Calçots (Allium cepa L.) are the floral stems of second-year onion resprouts of the ‘Blanca Tardana de Lleida’ landrace with an economical importance in Catalonia (northeast Spain) usually consumed grilled or roasted. The singularity of the production of this product has helped confer protected status from the European Union and ‘Calçot de Valls’ have been awarded Protected Geographical Indication (EC No 905/2012) (Simó, Valero, Plans, Romero del Castillo, & Casañas, 2013). The demand and interest in calçots worldwide has motivated food industry to explore postharvest techniques such as minimally processing, maintaining their nutritional and organoleptic characteristics.
Minimally processed produce is known to be susceptible to the contamination and subsequent survival and/or growth of microorganisms resulting in both safety concerns and relatively short shelf lives (Vandekinderen et al., 2009a). Decontamination agents such as sodium hypochlorite and peroxyacetic acid could be added to the wash water to reduce the microbial load of fresh-cut calçot on the condition that no adverse effects on the quality are induced. However, the minimally processed vegetables of Allium genus have an additional problem called ‘telescoping’ which is an extension growth of the white inner leaf bases and
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PAA has been able to inactivate Escherichia coli in fresh-cut lettuce process wash water without the persistent toxic or mutagenic residuals or by-products and with lower dependence on pH than chlorine (Sánchez, Elizaquível, Aznar, & Selma, 2015). PAA is gaining increased interest claiming that only harmless disinfection by-products have been identified so far as acetic acid, water and oxygen are formed from its spontaneous decomposition (Ölmez & Kretzschmar,
Old World crops such as wheat, barley, rice, and turnips had not traveled west across the Atlantic. Some of the New World crops that hav...
Disinfection is applied in water as well as wastewater treatment as a finishing step so as to destroy pathogens but the cause of concern regarding the disinfection process is the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs). Natural organic matter (NOM) in water has been considered as the predominant DBP precursors. Disinfectants are powerful oxidants that oxidize the organic matter present in water forming DBPs. Chlorine, ozone, chlorine dioxide, and chloramines are the most common disinfectants used nowadays and each produces its own suite of chemical DBPs in finished drinking water (Richardson, 2003). DBPs so formed pose a threat to human health because of their potential to cause cancer and reproductive/developmental effects. Most developed nations have regulated concentration of DBPs so as to minimize exposure to potentially harmful DBPs while maintaining adequate disinfection and control of targeted
Escherichia coli, commonly known as E. coli, is a bacterium that is associated with food poisoning. Both in the medical community and the general public there are growing concerns about the health dangers that are associated with Escherichia coli. One major area of concern is its apparent resistance to certain core antibiotics. The bacterium Escherichia coli, is found in both foods and lakes. In terms of food it is mostly beef and dairy products, and sometimes in vegetables due to the fertilizer being partially cow feces. In terms of lakes, E coli can be in any of them. This bacterium causes humans to
It is imperative that domestic water provided for direct consumption and ingestion through food must be sanitary. Scientific research indicates that as many as 19 million Americans may become ill each year due to parasites, viruses a...
The city’s water resources being a river, ground water and a reservoir are prone to having hazardous pathogens harmful to anyone who consumes water from the plant. Chlorination in water treatment is a common practice which is used to disinfect water from disease, however, it is known that when microbes attach to or are within particles of water they are protected from chlorine treatments. An alternate solution to chlorine is chloramine. Chloramine is the addition of ammonia to the chlorine compound. Once chloramine becomes in contact with water it is known as monochloramine. According to Gerstein (pg 719. 1931) and Holwerda (pg 719.1928) the germicidal properties were less when ammonia in chloramine was present. Monochloramine lasts a lot longer in water than chlorine therefore protecting the water from disease for a longer period of time. The water supply network consists of numerous pipes that potentially carry disease in them.
Although considered faster and cheaper, this approach to providing other alternative resources to food is slowly but significantly drying up our plant and is compromising human health. Because of the increa...
Obtaining a secure supply of food is one of the most important parts of life. Acquiring food and its preparation is changing with the times, but the age-old art of preparing a healthy diet from natural ingredients is being put to use even today. After harvesting wild vegetables, those which are not eaten right away are dried and stored. It is important to provide an ample supply of food, because the summers are short and the winters are long in Hokkaido. The Ainu have made it a rule not to pick more than necessary, and of what was collected all o...
Top, E. M., van Daele, P., de Saeyer, N., Forney, L. J. (1998). Enhancement of 2, 4 dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2, 4-D) degradation in soil by dissemination of catabolic plasmids. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 73, 87-94.
Levy, Stuart B. "CDC - Antibacterial Household Products: Cause for Concern." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC, 11 Mar. 2009. Web. 11 June 2010. .
usage of chlorine in water treatment was first applied back in 1990’s. Chlorine has been mostly used in water treatment than any other application because it is very active and it destroys a wide range of harmful bacteria and viruses in the water. Disinfection of drinking water is one of the most important and successful accomplishment for public health because it has done a major reduction of diseases that are caused by drinking unsafe water, such as typhoid, cholera and other waterborne diseases. Even after thirty years of its existence chlorine is still one of the biggest application used when cleaning water for health benefits around the world. The formation
Acrylamide or propenic acid amide (AcA) has also been called a cooking carcinogen.AcA has been widely used for decades in various spheres of life, mostly (99.9%) for manufacturing of polyacrylamide (PAA). Acrylamide (CH_2 = CH-CONH_2) has been an important industrial chemical in particular it has been used worldwide to synthesize polyacrylamide. Polyacrylamide has been used for various purposes, including removal of suspended solids from industrial waste water, soil conditioner, grouting agents, surfactant for herbicide mixtures, a stationary phase for laboratory separations, and cosmetic formulations. Consequently, since acrylamide is formed from polyacrylamide degradation, it has been known to be present in drinking water for many years. Therefore, it may enter the food chain in the environment.
Irradiation is capable of improving the safety and quality of many foods. It is the process that emits high-energy rays passing through [food] products, virtually killing all harmful bacteria and parasites in or on the food (OCA, 1998). Yet, the food remains raw and undergoes only minor chemical changes. Foods are treated with ionizing radiation to accomplish many different goals, one being the delivery of raw meats and sprouts.
Minear, R., Amy, G.. Water Disinfection and Natural Organic Matter: History and Overview. ACS Symposium Series. 1996, 649, 1-9.
Think about cactus and this image bursts up in our mind which is a spiked plant with no flowers and fruits growing in deserts. However, certain cacti blossom and bear fruits also. The cactus flowers have several health returns to offer. Catch up with some interesting facts and benefits of cactus flowers right here with us.