• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.560-564
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• 2012

This study was undertaken to assess the microbiological quality and prevalence of pathogens in organic vegetables produced in Korea. A total of 189 organically grown vegetable samples (perilla leaf 50, lettuce 50, tomato 39, cucumber 50) were analyzed for the presence of aerobic plate count, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Yersinia enterocolitica. The total aerobic plate counts were in the range of 4.2 to $7.7log\;CFU\;g^{-1}$ for perilla leaf, 5.0 to $8.0log\;CFU\;g^{-1}$ for lettuce, 4.0 to $7.5log\;CFU\;g^{-1}$ for tomato, and 6.6 to $8.6log\;CFU\;g^{-1}$ for cucumber. The highest counts were found in cucumber. E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., S. aureus, L. monocytogenes, and Y. enterocolitica were not detected from any organically grown vegetable samples. This research suggests that continuous monitoring in organic vegetables is required to improve fresh produce safety.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.211-218
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• 2016

This study evaluated the effect of Candida norvegensis (C. norvegensis) viable yeast culture on in vitro ruminal fermentation of oat straw. Ruminal fluid was mixed with buffer solution (1:2) and anaerobically incubated with or without yeast at $39^{\circ}C$ for 0, 4, 8, 16, and 24 h. A fully randomized design was used. There was a decrease in lactic acid (quadratic, p = 0.01), pH, (quadratic, p = 0.02), and yeasts counts (linear, p<0.01) across fermentation times. However, in vitro dry matter disappearance (IVDMD) and ammonia-N increased across fermentation times (quadratic; p<0.01 and p<0.02, respectively). Addition of yeast cells caused a decrease in pH values compared over all fermentation times (p<0.01), and lactic acid decreased at 12 h (p = 0.05). Meanwhile, yeast counts increased (p = 0.01) at 12 h. C. norvegensis increased ammonia-N at 4, 8, 12, and 24 h (p<0.01), and IVDMD of oat straw increased at 8, 12, and 24 h (p<0.01) of fermentation. Yeast cells increased acetate (p<0.01), propionate (p<0.03), and butyrate (p<0.03) at 8 h, while valeriate and isovaleriate increased at 8, 12, and 24 h (p<0.01). The yeast did not affect cellulolytic bacteria (p = 0.05), but cellulolytic fungi increased at 4 and 8 h (p<0.01), whereas production of methane decreased (p<0.01) at 8 h. It is concluded that addition of C. norvegensis to in vitro oat straw fermentation increased ruminal fermentation parameters as well as microbial growth with reduction of methane production. Additionally, yeast inoculum also improved IVDMD.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.560-566
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• 2010

Changes in characteristics of low-salted Kochujang added with mixed additives (licorice 0.8%, mustard 0.7%, chitosan 2%) were investigated during fermentation for 40 days. There was no significant difference in viable and yeast cell counts and color among all treatments, whereas lactic acid bacteria counts of 6.8% and 5.9% salted Kochujang added with the mixed additives (p<0.05) were significantly lower than that of control. The phenomenon of abnormal fermentation was observed on surface of low-salted Kochujang but not the low-salted Kochujang added with the mixed additives. The level of amino nitrogen in low-salted Kochujang was close to that of 8.5% salted Kochujang at 20 days of fermentation; however, the amino nitrogen content in 5.9% salted Kochujang added with the additives was 1.6 times higher than in 8.5% salted Kochujang at 40 days. In sensory evaluation, 5.9% salted Kochujang with the additives had the highest score in overall palatability. These results indicate that salt contents of Kochujang could be lowered up to 5.9% by addition of the mixture of licorice, mustard and chitosan, resulting in improvement of palatability and shortening of fermentation time.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.89-97
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• 2009

Jujube wine was treated with hydrostatic pressure (500 MPa, 5 min) or freezing ($-20^{\circ}C$, 3 days and thawed $20^{\circ}C$, 4 hr) and their microbial counts, physicochemical properties, and sensory characteristics were investigated during storage at $35^{\circ}C$ for 60 days. Microorganisms in pressure-treated jujube wine were not detected during the whole period and chemical compositions as well as color were slightly changed. Sensory quality was significantly preserved until 20 days without increasing sweet aroma and taste. In freezing-treated wine, bacterial counts were decreased after 10 days and remained below 10 CFU/mL while lactic acid bacteria and yeast were not detected. Changes of chemical composition were smaller than those of the untreated wine but bigger than those of the pressure-treated or heat-treated wine. Instrumental color was changed after $10{\sim}20$ days resulting from the increase of L value and the reduction of a value. Sensory quality was significantly similar with the fresh wine for 10 days, suggesting that pressure treatment would be the most effective sterilization method to improve the shelf life of jujube wine whereas freezing treatment would be insufficient.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.115-123
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• 2014

In the current study, wheat flour was mixed with high quality cassava flour (HQCF) in several ratios: 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, and 60:40, and used to prepare 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) cassava bread, respectively. 100% wheat bread was prepared as a control (100% wheat bread). Five bread samples were prepared per group. Antioxidant assays [i.e., 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) scavenging assay, reducing power assay] revealed that the bread samples had considerable antioxidant capacities. Substitution of wheat flour with HQCF at various concentrations resulted in dose dependent decreases in the mineral and protein contents of the resulting bread samples. The crude fiber content of the bread samples was minimal, while the carbohydrate content of the bread samples ranged from 43.86% to 48.64%. A 20% substitution of wheat flour with HQCF yielded bread samples with a general acceptability that was comparable to that of 100% wheat bread. The mean bacteria counts of the bread samples ranged from $2.0{\times}10^3CFU/mL$ to $1.4{\times}10^4CFU/mL$, while the fungal counts ranged from 0 CFU/mL to $3{\times}10^3CFU/mL$. There was a positive correlation between the DPPH antioxidant activities and the reducing powers of the bread samples ($R^2=0.871$) and a positive correlation between the DPPH antioxidant activities and the flavonoid contents of the bread samples ($R^2=0.487$). The higher microbial load of the NRCRI cassava bread samples indicates that these bread samples may have a shorter shelf life than the 100% wheat bread. The significant positive correlation between total flavonoid content and reducing power ($R^2=0.750$) suggests that the flavonoids present in the lipophilic fractions of the bread samples could be responsible for the reductive capacities of the bread samples.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.594-598
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• 2006

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and frequency of food-borne pathogens in unprocessed Products such as grains, tubers, vegetables, and seaweeds. Three hundred and twenty seven samples were purchased from the retail market and the supermarket in the Kyonggi-do and Seoul areas, and washed with running tap water for 4 minutes. The total aerobic bacteria count was approximately 2 to 6 log CFU/g and the highest counts were 6 log CFU/g far lettuce and sesame leaf. The coliform count showed 1-5 log CFU/g and the highest counts were 4 log CFU/g for lettuce and carrot. Escherichia coli was detected in seven samples of white rice, sweet potato, lettuce, sesame leaf, and cabbage. Clostridium perfringens was detected in six samples of brown seaweed, laver, lettuce, and sweet potato. However, Bacillus cereus contamination was found in more than 30% of brown rice, carrot, sweet potato, lettuce and sesame leaf samples, and some of these showed contamination of more than 2.0 log CFU/g. Therefore, these results suggest that pretreatment with sanitizer to remove Bacillus cereus in such products is necessary.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.556-562
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• 2007

A total of 126 crossbred weanling pigs (average body weight of $6.3{\pm}0.3$ kg) were used to investigate the effect of chito-oligosaccharide (COS) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, pH of gastro-intestinal tract (GI), intestinal and fecal microflora of young piglets. Pigs were allocated to three dietary treatments based on body weight and gender in a single factorial arrangement. Treatments were control (No COS), T1 (0.2% COS during starter (6-13 kg) and 0.1% COS during grower (13-30 kg) phases, and T2 (0.4% COS during starter (6-13 kg) and 0.3% COS during grower (13-30 kg) phases, respectively. Each treatment had 3 replicates and 14 pigs were raised in each pen. COS is a low molecular weight water-soluble chitosan that can be obtained from chitin of the crab shell after deacetylation with concentrated sodium hydroxide at high temperature and then further decomposition by chitosanase enzyme in the presence of ascorbic acid. For the starter and grower periods, there were no significant differences (p>0.05) in average daily gain (ADG) and feed to gain ratio among treatments. However, during the overall period (6-30 kg), T2 showed better (p<0.05) feed to gain ratio than other treatments. A digestibility study was conducted at the end of grower phase which showed improvement (p<0.05) in DM and crude fat digestibility in T2 over the control. At 25 kg body weight, 6 pigs per treatment (2 per replicate) were sacrificed to determine the effect of diets on pH and microbial count at different sections of the GI tract. The pH of the cecal contents in pigs fed 0.1% COS was higher (p<0.05) than in the other treatments. Total anaerobic bacterial number increased from cecum to rectum in all treatments. The weekly total bacterial counts showed higher (p<0.05) in feces of pigs fed COS than that of untreated pigs at the $8^{th}$ week. The number of fecal E. coli in untreated pigs at $4^{th}$ wk was 7.35 log CFU/g compared to 6.71 and 6.54 log CFU/g in 0.1 and 0.3% COS-treated pigs, respectively. Similarly, at $8^{th}$ wk, fecal clostridium spp. were lower in pigs fed 0.3% COS (5.43 log CFU/g) than in untreated pigs (6.26 log CFU/g). In conclusion, these results indicated that chito-oligosaccharide could improve feed efficiency in young pigs and inhibited the growth of harmful bacteria.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.156-161
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• 1999

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of n-capric acid(CA) or n-capric acid methyl ester (CE) addition during salting process, and fermentation temperature on chemical and microbial changes of Kimchi. The pHs of control, CA and CE were 3.78, 4.28 and 4.35 after 6 days of storage at $20^{\circ}C$ and were 3.85, 5.14 and 5.10 after 42 days of storage at $4^{\circ}C$, respectively. The effects of CA or CE addition at $4^{\circ}C$ were higher than those at $20^{\circ}C$. The maximum edible acidity, 0.75%, was reached within 3 days at $20^{\circ}C$, 15 days at $12^{\circ}C$, and the acidity of 42 days at $4^{\circ}C$ was 0.62% which was still lower value than the maximum edible acidity. Total bacteria, Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus and yeast counts of the control were higher value than those of the treatments throught the whole fermentation period. The addition of CE at $4^{\circ}C$ had much affected the reduction of yeast count. As microbial counts and reduction rates of control and treated Kimchi increased with increasing the storage temperature.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.451-458
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• 2009

Purpose: Optical molecular luminescence imaging is widely used for detection and imaging of bio-photons emitted by luminescent luciferase activation. The measured photons in this method provide the degree of molecular alteration or cell numbers with the advantage of high signal-to-noise ratio. To extract useful information from the measured results, the analysis based on a proper quantification method is necessary. In this research, we propose a quantification method presenting linear response of measured light signal to measurement time. Materials and Methods: We detected the luminescence signal by using lab-made optical imaging equipment of animal light imaging system (ALIS) and different two kinds of light sources. One is three bacterial light-emitting sources containing different number of bacteria. The other is three different non-bacterial light sources emitting very weak light. By using the concept of the candela and the flux, we could derive simplified linear quantification formula. After experimentally measuring light intensity, the data was processed with the proposed quantification function. Results: We could obtain linear response of photon counts to measurement time by applying the pre-determined quantification function. The ratio of the re-calculated photon counts and measurement time present a constant value although different light source was applied. Conclusion: The quantification function for linear response could be applicable to the standard quantification process. The proposed method could be used for the exact quantitative analysis in various light imaging equipments with presenting linear response behavior of constant light emitting sources to measurement time.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.313-318
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• 2016

Bacteria in the viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state fail to produce colonies on routine bacteriological media, but are still alive in the state of very low metabolic activity. The aim of the present study was to induce the VBNC state of the Edwardsiella tarda using sea water microcosm under starvation conditions at $10^{\circ}C$ and to investigate resuscitation of the VBNC cells in temperatures changed from 10 to $25^{\circ}C$, with and without additives. E. tarda entered into the VBNC state within about 42-84 days of incubation in the microcosm. Throughout this period, the total cell counts as determined using acridine orange direct counting remained near the original inoculum level of ${\sim}10^8cells/ml$. The live cell counts measured with direct viable counting, on the other hands, declined to ${\sim}10^4cells/ml$. When the VBNC cells were incubated with addition of yeast extract, fish muscle extract or serum at $25^{\circ}C$, the ratios of resuscitated samples were 37%, 23%, and 37%, respectively. The characteristics of resuscitated E. tarda were consistent with those of the original E. tarda. When the resuscitated E. tarda were intraperitoneally injected into olive flounders, all fishes died within 5 days, indicating that the VBNC E. tarda might retain its pathogenic potential. Therefore, E. tarda under starvation conditions in the winter enter into the VBNC state and the VBNC E. tarda cells resuscitated at summer and autumn seawater temperature are considered to be pathogen continuously to olive flounder on the southern coast of Korea.