Bee Bread as a Functional Product: Phenolic Compounds, Amino Acid, Sugar, and Organic Acid Profiles.

Bee bread (perga) is a natural bee product formed by the fermentation of the pollen collected by bees via lactic acid bacteria and yeasts. This study aims to determine the bioactive compounds, amino acid, sugar, and organic acid profile of bee bread samples collected from the Ardahan province of Türkiye. The highest total phenolic, total flavonoid, and DPPH values in bee bread samples were determined as 18.35 mg GAE/g, 2.82 mg QE/g, and 3.90 mg TEAC/g, respectively. Among phenolic compounds, gallic acid had the highest value at 39.97 µ/g. While all essential amino acids except tryptophan were detected in the samples, aspartic acid was the most dominant, followed by pyrroline and glutamic acid. Among sugars, fructose was seen at the highest level. Succinic acid, among organic acids, had the highest amount at 73.63 mg/g. Finally, all the data were subjected to a principal components analysis (PCA). Bee bread samples were grouped according to the analysis results of the districts they were collected from. This study provides information about the bioactive components and some chemical properties of bee bread, a natural product that has been the subject of recent research. It also contains essential data for future functional food production.

Relationships Linking the Element, Bioactive, Hydroxymethylfurfural, Color of Kars Honeys: a Chemometric Approach.

Honey is a natural food substance considered among functional foods due to its positive effect on human health. Quality of honey is significantly influenced by environmental conditions and botanical origin. This study aimed to determine the element content in honey from Kars, Turkey, as well as the bioactive compounds and certain physicochemical and biochemical properties such as hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and color in a chemometric approach. In this study, a total of 41 local honey samples were analyzed. The levels of elements Al, As, B, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Zn, and Pb were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrophotometer (ICP-OES). The mean concentrations of the elements in the samples were identified as 3.09, 0.64, 59.07, 0.02, 0.14, 0.17, 1.76, 9.32, 0.78, and 0.33 µg/g for Al, As, B, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Zn, and Pb, respectively. The mean bioactive compounds of the honey samples were determined as phenolic content (19.74 mg GAE/100 g), flavonoid content (4.47 mg CE/100 mg), and DPPH (49.08% inhibition). The HMF levels of all samples conformed to the honey standards of the Codex Alimentarius and Turkish Food Codex. HMF was not negatively correlated with the other color parameters except for the a* (redness or greenness) value. This study showed that clustering analysis (CA) and principal component analysis (PCA) are useful for distinguishing the originality of honey samples by using element content, bioactive properties, HMF, and color and were useful in defining the Kars honey type.

Ultrasound Processing of Vinegar: Modelling the Impact on Bioactives and Other Quality Factors.

In recent years, non-thermal technology has been used for the enrichment of ultrasound bioactive components. For this purpose, it was applied to tomato vinegar and modeled with response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN). At the end of the RSM, cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (68.64%), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (62.47%), total flavonoid content (2.44 mg CE/mL), total phenolic content (12.22 mg GAE/mL), total ascorbic acid content (2.53 mg/100 mL) and total lycopene (5.44 µg/mL) were determined. The ANN model has higher prediction accuracy than RSM. The microstructure, microbiological properties, sensory analysis, ACE (angiotensin-converting-enzyme) inhibitor and antidiabetic effects of the ultrasound-treated tomato vinegar (UTV) (8.9 min and 74.5 amplitude), traditional tomato vinegar (TTV) and pasteurized tomato vinegar (PTV) samples were then evaluated. UTV was generally appreciated by the panelists. It was determined that the microbiological properties were affected by the ultrasound treatment. UTV was found to have more effective ACE inhibitor and antidiabetic properties than other vinegar samples. As a result, the bioactive components of tomato vinegar were enriched with ultrasound treatment and positive effects on health were determined.

Detection of airborne psychrotrophic bacteria and fungi in food storage refrigerators

The purpose of this study was to determine the microbiological air quality (psychrotrophic bacteria and airborne fungi) and distribution of fungi in different types of ready-to-eat (RTE) food-storage refrigerators (n=48) at selected retail stores in the city of Edirne, Turkey. Refrigerators were categorized according to the type of RTE food-storage: meat products, vegetables, desserts, or a mix of food types. Microbiological quality of air samples was evaluated by using a Mas-100 Eco Air Sampler. Four refrigerators (all containing meat products, 8.3%) produced air samples with undetectable microorganisms. The highest detected mean value of airborne psychrotrophic bacteria and fungi was 82.3 CFU/m³ and 54.6 CFU/m³, respectively and were found in mixed-food refrigerators. The dominant airborne fungal genera found were Penicillium (29.0%), Aspergillus (12.0%), Mucor (9%), Cladosporium (8%), Botyrtis (7%), and Acremonium (6%). By definition, RTE food does not undergo a final treatment to ensure its safety prior to consumption. Therefore, ensuring a clean storage environment for these foods is important to prevent food-borne disease and other health risks.

Detection of airborne psychrotrophic bacteria and fungi in food storage refrigerators.

The purpose of this study was to determine the microbiological air quality (psychrotrophic bacteria and airborne fungi) and distribution of fungi in different types of ready-to-eat (RTE) food-storage refrigerators (n=48) at selected retail stores in the city of Edirne, Turkey. Refrigerators were categorized according to the type of RTE food-storage: meat products, vegetables, desserts, or a mix of food types. Microbiological quality of air samples was evaluated by using a Mas-100 Eco Air Sampler. Four refrigerators (all containing meat products, 8.3%) produced air samples with undetectable microorganisms. The highest detected mean value of airborne psychrotrophic bacteria and fungi was 82.3 CFU/m(3) and 54.6 CFU/m(3), respectively and were found in mixed-food refrigerators. The dominant airborne fungal genera found were Penicillium (29.0%), Aspergillus (12.0%), Mucor (9%), Cladosporium (8%), Botyrtis (7%), and Acremonium (6%). By definition, RTE food does not undergo a final treatment to ensure its safety prior to consumption. Therefore, ensuring a clean storage environment for these foods is important to prevent food-borne disease and other health risks.