Interés de los germinados y su Seguridad Alimentaria / Interest of sprouts and their Food Security

INTRODUCCIÓN: Los germinados son alimentos listos para el consumo cuyo uso está bastante extendido y de los que es necesario garantizar su inocuidad. OBJETIVOS: Nuestros objetivos fueron conocer la Nor - mativa Europea que regula la Seguridad Alimentaria de los mismos y evaluar la calidad microbiológica de algunos tipos de germinados. METODOLOGÍA: La Normativa Europea estudiada recoge la evolución relativa a la Seguridad Alimentaria de hortalizas, incluyendo las semillas germinadas. En 2005 se establece únicamente la investigación de Salmonella y a partir de 2013 plantea criterios de calidad microbiológica para los germinados; dicha Normativa esta transpuesta a la Reglamentación Española. Para el estudio microbiológico se utilizaron 5 tipos diferentes de germinados adquiridos en el comercio, que se analizaron directamente (control), después de su lavado con agua destilada y tras su tratamiento con un desinfectante. Se realizaron recuentos de bacterias aerobias mesófilas totales, Escherichia coli y Listeria monocytogenes y se investigó la presencia de Salmonella spp. RESULTADOS: Los recuentos de bacterias aerobias mesófilas totales en los controles estuvieron comprendidos entre 1,0 X 108 a 2,0 X 109 ufc/g; en los lavados, fueron de 6,0 X 107 a 1,1 X 109 ufc/g y en los tratados de 1,0 X 107 a 6,8 X 108 ufc/g. La reducción de la carga bacteriana por el lavado fue de 24 % (ajo) a 50 % (brócoli) y en el caso del tratamiento con el desinfectante de 59 % (ajo) a 90 % (alfalfa). Los recuentos de Escherichia coli y Listeria monocytogenes fueron inferiores a 10 ufc/g en todas las muestras y en el caso de Salmonella spp. hubo ausencia en 25 g en todas las muestras analizadas. CONCLUSIONES: Los recuentos de Escherichia coli y Listeria monocytogenes son inferiores a lo indicado en la normativa y no se encontró presencia de Salmonella spp. En conclusión los germinados analizados se consideran alimentos seguros

INTRODUCTION: Sprouts are ready-to-eat foods, and their use is quite widespread, consequently it is necessary to guarantee their safety. OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to know the European Regulations about Food Safety of sprouts and to evaluate the microbiological quality of some types of sprouts. METHODS: The European Regulation reflects the evolution related to Food Safety of vegetables, including sprouted seeds. In 2005, only Salmonella was established to be investigated in sprouts, and in 2013, the European Union proposed microbiological quality criteria for sprouts and that Regulation was transposed to the Spanish Regulations. For the microbiological study, five different types of commercial sprouts were chosen; they were directly analyzed (control), after distilled water washing and after treatment with a disinfectant. Total mesophilic aerobic bacteria, Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes were counted and presence of Salmonella spp. was determined. RESULTS: Counts of total mesophilic aerobic bacteria were between 1.0 X 108 to 2.0 X 109 cfu/g in control samples; in the washed ones, from 6.0 X 107 to 1.1 X 109 cfu/g, and, in the treated ones, from 1.0 X 107 to 6.8 X 108 cfu/g. The reduction of bacterial load by washing was from 24 % (garlic) to 50 % (broccoli) and in the case of treatment with the disinfectant from 59 % (garlic) to 90 % (alfalfa). Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes counts were lower than 10 cfu/g in all samples, and there was absence of Salmonella spp. in 25 g of all the samples analyzed. CONCLUSIONS: Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes counts were lower than those indicated in the Regulations, and no presence of Salmonella spp was found. In conclusion, the analyzed sprouts are considered safe and innocuous foods

Response of a Wild Edible Plant to Human Disturbance: Harvesting Can Enhance the Subsequent Yield of Bamboo Shoots.

Wild edible plants, ecological foodstuffs obtained from forest ecosystems, grow in natural fields, and their productivity depends on their response to harvesting by humans. Addressing exactly how wild edible plants respond to harvesting is critical because this knowledge will provide insights into how to obtain effective and sustainable ecosystem services from these plants. We focused on bamboo shoots of Sasa kurilensis, a popular wild edible plant in Japan. We examined the effects of harvesting on bamboo shoot productivity by conducting an experimental manipulation of bamboo shoot harvesting. Twenty experimental plots were prepared in the Teshio Experimental Forest of Hokkaido University and were assigned into two groups: a harvest treatment, in which newly emerged edible bamboo shoots were harvested (n = 10); and a control treatment, in which bamboo shoots were maintained without harvesting (n = 10). In the first year of harvesting (2013), bamboo shoot productivities were examined twice; i.e., the productivity one day after harvesting and the subsequent post-harvest productivity (2-46 days after harvesting), and we observed no difference in productivity between treatments. This means that there was no difference in original bamboo shoot productivity between treatments, and that harvesting did not influence productivity in the initial year. In contrast, in the following year (2014), the number of bamboo shoots in the harvested plots was 2.4-fold greater than in the control plots. These results indicate that over-compensatory growth occurred in the harvested plots in the year following harvesting. Whereas previous research has emphasized the negative impact of harvesting, this study provides the first experimental evidence that harvesting can enhance the productivity of a wild edible plant. This suggests that exploiting compensatory growth, which really amounts to less of a decline in productivity, may be s a key for the effective use of wild edible plants.

Establishment of an in vitro micropropagation protocol for Boscia senegalensis (Pers.) Lam. ex Poir.

This report describes in vitro micropropagation of Boscia senegalensis, so-called famine foods, that helped the people in Darfur and Kordofan, Sudan survive during the 1984-1985 famine. Four types of explants prepared from green mature zygotic embryos were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium augmented with 1-5 mg/L 6-benzyladenine (BA). The highest number of shoots per explant (14.3±0.9) was achieved on MS medium supplemented with 3 mg/L BA, while the highest shoot length [(3.5±0.4) cm] was obtained with 1 mg/L BA. The shoot cluster, when subcultured to its same medium, significantly increased the rate of shoot multiplication by the end of the third subculture. The maximum mean number of shoots per explant (86.5±3.6) was produced after three multiplication cycles on 3 mg/L BA-supplemented medium. In vitro induced shoots were excised and rooted on half strength MS medium fortified with 0.25 mg/L indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) to obtain complete plantlets. B. senegalensis-regenerated plantlets obtained in vitro for the first time, were hardened and 95% survived under greenhouse conditions.

Functional properties of select edible oilseed proteins.

Borate saline buffer (0.1 M, pH 8.45) solubilized proteins from almond, Brazil nut, cashew nut, hazelnut, macadamia, pine nut, pistachio, Spanish peanut, Virginia peanut, and soybean seeds were prepared from the corresponding defatted flour. The yield was in the range from 10.6% (macadamia) to 27.4% (almond). The protein content, on a dry weight basis, of the lyophilized preparations ranged from 69.23% (pine nut) to 94.80% (soybean). Isolated proteins from Brazil nut had the lightest and hazelnut the darkest color. Isolated proteins exhibited good solubility in aqueous media. Foaming capacity (<40% overrun) and stability (<1 h) of the isolated proteins were poor to fair. Almond proteins had the highest viscosity among the tested proteins. Oil-holding capacity of the isolated proteins ranged from 2.8 (macadamia) to 7 (soybean) g of oil/g of protein. Least gelation concentrations (% w/v) for almond, Brazil nut, cashew, hazelnut, macadamia, pine nut, pistachio, Spanish peanut, Virginia peanut, and soybean were, respectively, 6, 8, 8, 12, 20, 12, 10, 14, 14, and 16.

High levels of melatonin in the seeds of edible plants: possible function in germ tissue protection.

The seeds of plants represent the anlage of the next generation and are vital to their existence. Melatonin has been identified in the leaves and flowers of plants but not in seeds. In this study, we examined the seeds of 15 edible plants for the presence of melatonin which was extracted using cold ethanol. Melatonin was initially identified by radioimmunoassay and subsequently quantified and confirmed using high performance liquid chromatography. The physiological concentrations of melatonin in the 15 seeds studied ranged from 2 to 200 ng/g dry weight. The highest concentrations of melatonin were observed in white and black mustard seeds. This level of melatonin is much higher than the known physiological concentrations in the blood of many vertebrates. Since the seed, particularly its germ tissue, is highly vulnerable to oxidative stress and damage, we surmise that melatonin, a free radical scavenger, might be present as an important component of its antioxidant defense system. Thus, melatonin in seeds may be essential in protecting germ and reproductive tissues of plants from oxidative damage due to ultraviolet light, drought, extremes in temperature, and environmental chemical pollutants.

Fertile asymmetric somatic hybrids between Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. and Lycopersicon peruvianum var. dentatum Dun.

Thirteen nuclear asymmetric hybrids were regenerated under selective conditions following fusion of chlorophyll-deficient protoplasts from cultivated tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) and gamma-irradiated protoplasts from the wild species Lycopersicon peruvianum var. dentatum Dun. All hybrid plants were classified as being asymmetric based on morphological traits, chromosome numbers and isozyme patterns. The majority of the hybrids inherited Lycopersicon peruvianum var. dentatum chloroplasts. Mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed mixed mitochondrial populations deriving from both parents in some of the hybrids and rearranged mitochondrial DNA in others. The asymmetric hybrids express some morphological traits that are not found in either of the parental species. Fertile F1 plants were obtained after self-pollination of the asymmetric hybrids in four cases. The results obtained confirm the potential of asymmetric hybridization as a new source of genetic variation, and as a method for transferring of a part of genetic material from donor to recipient, and demonstrate that it is possible to produce fertile somatic hybrids by this technique.