In this study, mineral element and heavy metal levels in bee pollen produced in various regions of Turkey (20 samples) and imported bee pollen (4 samples), were determined using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Dptical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-DES) device. Mineral and heavy metal levels of bee pollens produced in Turkey were determined to be within the following ranges (minimum-maximum, µg/g pollen); Cr (chromium): 0.

Abstract:Two hundred sixty one samples, collected from supermarkets in Istanbul, Turkey. All samples were analysed for aerobic mesophilic bacterial counts (AMC), aerobic psychrotrophic bacterial counts (APC), enumeration of yeasts and moulds (YM), coliforms, Escherichia coli and detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. AMC ranged from 2.95 to 3.75 log 10 CFU/g. APC ranged from 0 to 3.55 log 10 CFU/g. The highest counts of coliforms were found in carrot, spinach, green leaf lettuce, cos lettuce and iceberg lettuce. The highest counts of YM were found in tomato, spinach, green leaf lettuce, cos lettuce and iceberg lettuce. Green leaf lettuces, cos lettuces, iceberg lettuces, spinach and carrot were highly contaminated with aerobic mesophilic (3.6 log 10 CFU/g), psychrotrophic microorganisms (3.4 log 10 CFU/g), and showed a high incidence of E.coli (41.77% of samples). Of the samples analysed, 10 (3.83%) were Salmonella spp. positive and 17 (6.51%) were thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. positive. None of the samples was positive for Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes. Fresh vegetables and fruits, sold in Istanbul, Turkey, are needed to control foodborne pathogens especially Salmonellosis and Campylobacteriosis.

ÖzetTransglutaminaz enzimi katılarak işlenmiş gıdaların, başta tekstür olmak üzere çeşitli kalite özelliklerinde gelişmeler olduğu farklı kaynaklarda belirtilmektedir. Bu çalışmada, tavuk göğüs etinden köfte üretimi yapılmıştır. Yapılan köfteler biri kontrol olmak üzere üç gruba ayrılmıştır. 1. grup kontrol grubu olup, enzim kullanılmamıştır. 2. grup köftelerde %0.5, 3. grup köftelerde ise %1 enzim ilavesi yapılmıştır. Bu köftelerin fiziksel, kimyasal ve duyusal özelliklerinin belirlenmesi amacıyla analizler yürütülmüştür. Bulgulara göre, enzim ilave edilen ve edilmeyen köftelerde kül, yağ, protein miktarı, renk özellikleri (L, a, b değerleri) ve duyusal açıdan farklılık olmadığı (P>0.05); %1 enzim ilavesi yapılan köftelerde, diğer köftelere göre kurumadde miktarının yükseldiği (P<0.05) ve enzim katkılı köftelerde kontrol grubuna göre pH değerinde düşme olduğu (P<0.05) saptanmıştır. Bununla birlikte enzim katkısının köftelerde pişirme kaybını azalttığı (P<0.05) tespit edilmiştir. Ayrıca, köftelerde yapılan tekstür analizi sonuçlarına göre, enzim katkısının köftelerin tekstürünü önemli ölçüde arttırdığı (P<0.01) gözlenmiştir. Anahtar sözcükler: Transglutaminaz, Tavuk köftesi, Kalite Effect of Transglutaminase on the Quality Properties of Chicken Breast Patties SummaryTransglutaminase enzyme is known to improve the textural and several other quality properties of food. In this study, patties were produced from chicken breast and dividend into three groups. The first group was not treated by transglutaminase and called as control samples. The second and third group patty samples were treated by 0.5% and 1% transglutaminase, respestively. Physical, chemical and sensory properties of the control and transglutaminase treated patty samples were studied.The transglutaminase treatment did not significantly affect the ash, lipid, protein content, colour properties (L, a, b values) and sensory properties of chicken breast patties compared to the control samples (P>0.05). However, dry matter content of the 1% enzyme treated samples was significantly (P<0.05) higher than the control and 0.5% transglutaminase treated samples. On the other hand, the pH of enzyme treated patties was found to be lower than the control samples. In addition, the transglutaminase treatments were significantly (P<0.05) effective in reducing the cooking loss and significantly improved the textural properties of the chicken breast patties (P<0.01).

ABSTRACT:The aim of this study was to determine the antimicrobial efficacy of curcumin, one of the active components of the Curcuma longa (turmeric) plant, against food pathogens in a minced meat medium. Salmonella Typhimurium ATCC 14028, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 7644, Escherichia coli O157:H7 ATCC 33150 and S. aureus ATCC 25923 strains were used as food pathogens. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined using the macrodilution method. MIC values for curcumin were found to be 125 µg/ml for L. monocytogenes and S. aureus, and 250 µg/ml for S. Typhimurium and E. coli O157:H7. Food pathogens were added to the minced meat at 10 4 CFU/g (including the control group) and curcumin at doses of 0.5%, 1% and 2% (except the control). The curcumin-supplemented minced meat and control were analysed 0-7 days later. At the end of seven days, it was seen that the 2% dose of curcumin had lowered L. monocytogenes and S. aureus counts by approximately 3 log CFU/g, and E. coli O157:H7 and S. Typhimurium counts by approximately 2 log CFU/g; the 1% dose had lowered L. monocytogenes, S. aureus, E. coli O157:H7 and S. Typhimurium counts by approximately 2 log CFU/g; and that the 0.5% curcumin dose had lowered L. monocytogenes and S. aureus count by approximately 2 log CFU/g, and E. coli O157:H7 and S. Typhimurium count by approximately 1 log CFU/g. Changes in bacterial counts were found to be statistically significant (P ≤ 0.05). It was observed that antibacterial effect increased in direct proportion to dose, while sensory approval decreased. In this study, 0.5% and 1% curcumin doses were determined to be sensorily acceptable. It was concluded that, in view of the scientific benefits and antimicrobial efficacy of curcumin, it may be used instead of, or in smaller doses together with preservative additives in foods where colour change is not important.

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.