Identification of irradiated foods by monitoring radiolytically produced hydrocarbons

Many countries allow the treatment of foods with low doses of ionizing radiation to reduce microbial and insect infestations, inhibit maturation, and extend shelf life. Therefore, a reliable method is needed to identify irradiated foods and to determine their compliance with respect to allowable absorbed radiation dose. Several approaches for the identification of irradiated foods have been developed such as measurement of radiolytic products, chemiluminescence, and thermoluminescence, and the use of electron spin resonance spectroscopy to measure free radicals trapped in bone. A method for the determination of radiolytically produced hydrocarbons was developed in our laboratory to evaluate the utility of monitoring these compounds as indicators of food irradiation. The method involves the extraction of the radiolytic hydrocarbons from foods and their quantitation by gas chromatography. Concentrations of the radiolytically produced hydrocarbons increased linearly with radiation doses ranging from 0 to 6 kGy. The limit of detection appears to be approximately 1 kGy. The method was found to be useful for the identification of gamma-irradiated foods such as shrimp, frog legs, pork, beef, and poultry. Results of the method evaluation studies of these food matrices as well as factors affecting hydrocarbon production and determination will be presented.     

Back to the future: A retrospective assessment of model‐based scenarios for the management of the shrimp fishery in French Guiana facing global change

While the number of models dedicated to predicting the consequences of alternative resource management strategies has increased, instances in which authors look back at past predictions to learn from discrepancies between these and observed developments are scarce. In the past decades, the French Guiana shrimp fishery has experienced shrimp market globalization and decreasing levels of shrimp recruitment due to environmental changes. In 2006, a bio‐economic model of this fishery was developed to simulate its possible responses to economic and environmental scenarios up to 2016. Here, we compare here these predictions to the observed trajectories. While the number of active vessels corresponds to that which was predicted, the estimated shrimp stock does not. Important driving factors had not been anticipated, including a general strike, natural disasters, and the end of the global financial crisis. These results show the importance of participative approaches involving stakeholders in the co‐construction and shared representation of scenarios. Recommendations for resource managers

• Effective fisheries resources management and a fortiori, the capacity of the fisheries to adapt to global change, requires understanding of both ecological and economics dynamics.
• The temporal trajectory of the trawling shrimp fisheries has been well monitored, and the decline of both stock and fleet is understood regarding ecological and economic changes: Changes in the environmental conditions of shrimp recruitment, and oil price increase and selling price decrease.
• However, our bio‐economic modeling work showed that, even with a good understanding of the dynamics explaining past trajectories, unpredictable events (strike, natural disasters…) have acted as other key driving factors altering the capacity of the model to represent possible futures.
• These results led us to recommend a better integration of the expertise of social and political scientists in developing models of bio‐economic systems to increase the quality of scenario predictions, and to argue for more participative approaches involving the stakeholders.

     

Anisotropic Electron Conductance Driven by Reaction Byproducts on a Porous Network of Dibromobenzothiadiazole on Cu(110)

Efficiency in charge‐transport is a fundamental but demanding prerequisite to allow better exploitation of molecular functionalities in organic electronics and energy‐conversion systems. Here, we report on a mechanism that enables a one‐dimensional conductance structure by connecting discrete molecular states at 2.1 eV through the pores of a metal–organic network on Cu(110). Two adjacent, periodic and isoenergetic contributions, namely a molecular resonance and the confined surface‐state, add‐up leading to anisotropic structures, as channels, observable in real‐space conductance images. The adsorption configurations of Br atoms, inorganic byproduct of the redox‐reacted 4,7‐dibromobenzo[c]‐1,2,5‐thiadiazole (2Br‐BTD) molecules on the copper surface, drive the confinement of the Cu surface state within the pores and critically control the channel continuity. Small displacements of the Br atoms change the local surface potential misaligning the energy levels. This work visualizes the effect of order‐disorder transitions caused by the movement of single atoms in the electronic properties of two‐dimensional organic networks.     

Simultaneous Determination of Sulfonamides Antibiotics in Environmental Water and Seafood Samples Using Ultrasonic-Assisted Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction Coupled with High Performance Liquid Chromatography

The residues and abuse of antibiotics have seriously endangered ecological balance and human health; meanwhile, antibiotics determination is very difficult because of their low levels and multiple categories in complicated matrices. Appropriate sample pretreatment is usually imperative to enrich (ultra)trace antibiotics and eliminate matrix interference prior to chromatographic analysis. Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) has become an ideal pretreatment technique owing to its simplicity, effectiveness, low-consumption, etc. In this work, an ultrasonic-assisted DLLME (UA-DLLME) was developed for the simultaneous extraction of seven sulfonamides (SAs) antibiotics in environmental water and seafood samples coupled with HPLC-DAD determination. Several parameters affecting UA-DLLME efficiency were systematically optimized, and consequently the SAs were separated and detected within 14.5 min. The obtained limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs) ranged from 0.7–7.8 μg/L and 2.4–26.0 μg/L for three water samples (seawater, aquaculture wastewater and lake water) and two seafood samples (pomfrets and shrimps). High recoveries (80.0–116.0%) with low relative standard deviations (0.1–8.1%) were achieved for all the tested samples at three spiked levels. Notably, sulfadimethoxine was found at 24.49 μg/L in one seawater sample. The facile, robust and benign DLLME-HPLC method demonstrated promising perspectives for multiresidue analysis of antibiotics.     

The Varietal Influence of Flavour Precursors from Grape Marc on Monoterpene and C13-Norisoprenoid Profiles in Wine as Determined by Membrane-Assisted Solvent Extraction (MASE) GC-MS

The winemaking by-product grape marc (syn. pomace) contains significant quantities of latent flavour in the form of flavour precursors which can be extracted and used to modulate the volatile composition of wine via chemical hydrolysis. Varietal differences in grapes are widely known with respect to their monoterpene content, and this work aimed to extend this knowledge into differences due to cultivar in volatiles derived from marc precursors following wine-like storage conditions. Marc extracts were produced from floral and non-floral grape lots on a laboratory-scale and from Muscat Gordo Blanco marc on a winery -scale, added to a base white wine for storage over five to six months, before being assessed using a newly developed membrane-assisted solvent extraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. The geraniol glucoside content of the marc extracts was higher than that of juices produced from each grape lot. In all wines with added marc extract from a floral variety, geraniol glucoside concentration increased by around 150–200%, with increases also observed for non-floral varieties. The relative volatile profile from extracts of the floral varieties was similar but had varied absolute concentrations. In summary, while varietally pure extracts would provide the greatest control over flavour outcomes when used in winemaking, aggregated marc parcels from floral cultivars may provide a mechanism to simplify the production logistics of latent flavour extracts for use in the wine sector.     

Effect of Tomato Peel Extract Grown under Drought Stress Condition in a Sarcopenia Model

Tomatoes and their derivates represent an important source of natural biologically active components. The present study aims to investigate the protective effect of tomato peel extracts, grown in normal (RED-Ctr) or in drought stress (RED-Ds) conditions, on an experimental model of sarcopenia. The phenolic profile and total polyphenols content (TPC) of RED-Ctr and RED-Ds were determined by Ultra High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC) analyses coupled to electrospray ionization high-resolution mass spectrometry (ESI-HR-MS). Human skeletal muscle myoblasts (HSMM) were differentiated in myotubes, and sarcopenia was induced by dexamethasone (DEXA) treatment. Differentiation and sarcopenia were evaluated by both real-time PCR and immunofluorescent techniques. Data show that myosin heavy chain 2 (MYH2), troponin T (TNNT1), and miogenin (MYOG) were expressed in differentiated myotubes. 5 μg Gallic Acid Equivalent (GAE/mL) of TPC from RED-Ds extract significantly reduced muscle atrophy induced by DEXA. Moreover, Forkhead BoxO1 (FOXO1) expression, involved in cell atrophy, was significantly decreased by RED-Ds extract. The protective effect of tomato peel extracts depended on their qualitative polyphenolic composition, resulting effectively in the in vitro model of sarcopenia.     

Elemental Chemometrics as Tools to Depict Stalked Barnacle (Pollicipes pollicipes) Harvest Locations and Food Safety

The stalked barnacle Pollicipes pollicipes is an abundant species on the very exposed rocky shore habitats of the Spanish and Portuguese coasts, constituting also an important economical resource, as a seafood item with high commercial value. Twenty-four elements were measured by untargeted total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (TXRF) in the edible peduncle of stalked barnacles sampled in six sites along the Portuguese western coast, comprising a total of 90 individuals. The elemental profile of 90 individuals originated from several geographical sites (N = 15 per site), were analysed using several chemometric multivariate approaches (variable in importance partial least square discriminant analysis (VIP-PLS-DA), stepwise linear discriminant analysis (S-LDA), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), random forests (RF) and canonical analysis of principal components (CAP)), to evaluate the ability of each approach to trace the geographical origin of the animals collected. As a suspension feeder, this species introduces a high degree of background noise, leading to a comparatively lower classification of the chemometric approaches based on the complete elemental profile of the peduncle (canonical analysis of principal components and linear discriminant analysis). The application of variable selection approaches such as the VIP-PLS-DA and S-LDA significantly increased the classification accuracy (77.8% and 84.4%, respectively) of the samples according to their harvesting area, while reducing the number of elements needed for this classification, and thus the background noise. Moreover, the selected elements are similar to those selected by other random and non-random approaches, reinforcing the reliability of this selection. This untargeted analytical procedure also allowed to depict the degree of risk, in terms of human consumption of these animals, highlighting the geographical areas where these delicacies presented lower values for critical elements compared to the standard thresholds for human consumption.     

水生动物及水产品中硫丹及其代谢物残留量的气相色谱-质谱测定

建立了水生动物及水产品中农药硫丹及其代谢物残留量的气相色谱-质谱(GC-MS)测定方法;样品经溶剂提取、凝胶层析柱净化;以氦气为载气,甲烷气为反应气,程序升温及负化学源(NCI)电离方式,采用气质联用仪在选择离子监测模式下进行快速测定,保留时间和离子相对丰度比定性、外标法定量;方法定量下限为0.004 mg/kg。在鳗鱼、泥鳅、鲶鱼、虾4种样品中添加不同浓度的硫丹时,其平均添加回收率在71%~87%之间,相对标准偏差(n=10)小于10%。     

Conversion of silica by-product into zeolites by thermo-sonochemical treatment

The fine powdered silica by-product of processing of aluminum fluoride (fertilizer plant, Lithuania) was used for zeolite synthesis as silica and aluminum source. The effect of sonication time and the time of hydrothermal synthesis on crystallinity of the synthesized zeolite were studied. This allowed the transformation of the by-product to the mixture of Na–P zeolite and Na–X zeolite. It was determined that ultrasonic-assisted hydrothermal action effected the “diamond” shape formation of Na–P zeolite with clear crystal edges. Na–P zeolite had the morphology of pseudo-spherical forms constituted by small plates when hydrothermal treatment (without sonication) was use for the preparation of zeolites. Moreover, it was determined that ultrasonic-assisted hydrothermal method effected a reduction in the crystal size compared with the zeolites which were synthesized only by using hydrothermal synthesis. The total amount of zeolites as high as 88–93% was achieved after 24 h of hydrothermal treatment followed or unfollowed by sonication. By using longer duration (20 min) of ultrasound pretreatment it is possible to reduce the duration of hydrothermal synthesis: from 24 h to 12 h of hydrothermal treatment. In this case, similar results of total amount of zeolites were detected. In the present work, low-cost raw materials, such as silica by-product have been investigated for the production of zeolites.     

Simultaneous determination of docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid in common seafood using ultrasonic cell crusher extraction combined with gas chromatography

An effective method for the simultaneous determination of docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid in common seafood by gas chromatography was developed and validated. Total docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid were extracted from seafood by ultrasonic cell crusher assisted extraction and methyl esterified for gas chromatography analysis in the presence of the internal standard. The linearity was good (r > 0.999) in 9.59 ∼ 479.5 μg/mL for docosahexaenoic acid and 9.56 ∼ 477.8 μg/mL for eicosapentaenoic acid. The intrarun and interrun precisions were both within 4.8 and 6.1% for the two analytes, while the accuracy was less than 5.8%. The developed method was applied for determination of docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid in six kinds of seafood. The result showed the content of docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid was all higher than 1 mg/g in yellow croaker, hairtail, venerupis philippinarum, mussel, and oyster. Our work may be helpful for dietary optimization and production of docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid.