Background: Since its first emergence in Wuhan-China in the late 2019 to date, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become the biggest public health threat on an international scale. Vaccination remains the first line of defence against the widespread of the virus. Objective: We aim to assess the socio-demographic association with knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) towards the different COVID-19 vaccines in young Lebanese population. Method: This cross-sectional study conducted in Lebanon between January 24th and 31st 2021. 1350 respondents answered this questionnaire. Questions included four dimensions (11 Socio-demographic characteristics, 22 knowledge questions, 5 attitude questions and 5 related to the practices). One-way ANOVA was used to analyse the differences between the KAP variables with the socio-demographic variables. When significant differences were found (p-value < 0.05), Duncan’s Multiple Range test was applied to determine the significant differences between the means. Results: The average knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines among our participants is 52.88%; 52.81% showed a good attitude towards the different type of vaccines, and 53.98% demonstrated good practices. The socio-demographic variables having a significant influence on the knowledge and practices towards the COVID-19 vaccines were the living place, the educational level, the school in which the students belong to, the type of job (health-related or non-health related job) and the income range. The type of insurance that respondents have was significantly associated with practices but not with knowledge. Conclusion This study showed significant differences in KAP among Lebanese people regarding COVID-19 vaccines, mainly affected by gender, education, work field and income. Our findings reflect fair knowledge, positive attitudes and good practices towards COVID-19 vaccine among the Lebanese population. Consequently, the Ministry of public health must work harder to disseminate, in higher frequency, more accurate information about the vaccines, and organize more vaccination campaigns in order to increase trust in the vaccines efficacy and to decrease the public hesitation.

Citrus tristeza virus (CTV, Genus Closterovirus, Family Closteroviridae), is the most destructive and economically important viral disease limiting commercial citrus production worldwide. This study was conducted during 2016-2017 growing seasons in order to identify the prevalence of different variants of CTV along the Syrian coast. Citrus samples were collected from different locations, and tested for the presence of Citrus tristeza virus by using TBIA test and using polyclonal antisera. Three CTV Isolates were used as scions from different locations and grafted to different citrus indicators, such as Mexican lime, sour orange and sweet orange varieties grafted on sour orange rootstock. Results showed that different symptoms were produced by the different isolates on the same citrus indicators. Symptoms produced showed various mosaic, chlorosis, leaf malformation, leaf curling, and stunting levels. Moreover, no symptoms were observed on stems of the indicator plants such as stem pitting and quick decline, up to one year after inoculation. These results suggest the possibility of having two CTV variants present along the Syrian coast: a yellowing strain and a mild strain.

Due to increased health awareness, many people are making the switch from the traditional low-fiber Lebanese white pita bread to healthier high-fiber pita bread alternatives. Even though the priceto-weight ratio of white pita bread is controlled and unified among all Lebanese bakeries and brands and is enforced by the Lebanese Ministry of Economy and Trade, there is a highly significant difference in the price-to-weight ratio among the different brands that offer high-fiber pita bread. We sought to investigate the root cause of this difference by assessing the composition of two of the most sold high-fiber pita bread types in Lebanon (brown and oat). We tested brown and oat pita bread from three different Lebanese bakeries for price-to-weight ratio, fiber content, TTA, pH, moisture, and calories per gram. Using Pearson correlation coefficient, we did not detect any correlation between the price and any of the tested properties; however, a highly positive correlation between crude fiber content and TTA was detected.

In light of recent news reporting the use of banned colorants in Lebanese-made pickled turnips exported to the European Union (EU) by the Rapid Alert System of Food and Feed (RASFF), The Lebanese Consumer Protection Association tested samples of pickled turnips being sold to the public and confirmed the use of rhodamine B. Many products were pulled off the market and were replaced with new products that were supposed to be free of any banned colorants. We selected 5 different brands of pickled turnips and tested them for pH, salinity, nitrites, and colorants. We tested the salinity using two methods: evaporation and titration. The concentration of nitrites was tested by absorbency method. The presence of colorants was determined using TLC and absorbency method. We determined that the newly released pickled turnips comply with the rules and regulations adopted by the Lebanese Standards Institution (LIBNOR) and the international standards according to the Codex Alimentarius.

We compared the stability of the food colorants betanin and red-beet extract in pickled turnips over a 14-week period and under different storage conditions that varied in terms of light exposure and additive content. Our findings showed that when exposed to 6 hours of sunlight or fluorescent light, on a daily basis, betanin was highly more stable than red-beet extract even when red-beet extract was stored in complete darkness. We further investigated the effect of metals and oxidation on the stability of betanin. Our results determined that EDTA and ascorbic acid significantly improved the stability of betanin colorant in pickling solution, even when exposed to direct sunlight. We tested the effect of four different concentrations of EDTA (100, 150, 200, and 250 mg/kg) and three different concentrations of ascorbic acid (200, 400, and 500 mg/kg) on the stability of betanin. EDTA (250 mg/kg) provided the highest improvement to betanin stability among all EDTA concentrations that were used in the study. Also, ascorbic acid (500 mg/kg) provided the highest improvement to betanin stability among the ascorbic acid concentrations that were used in the study.