• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.275-279
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• 2005

The objective of this study was to investigate the color development and shelf-life effect of low-fat sausages (LFS) during refrigerated storage according to the additions of sodium lactate (SL), chitosan, and lac pigment. The LFS samples had $73{\sim}76%$ moisture, $3{\sim}4%$ fat, and $13{\sim}16%$ protein with a pH range of 6.4-6.6. The addition of chitosan ($MW\;=\;30{\sim}40\;kDa$) to LFS increased most textural properties. Hunter a (redness) values were increased by the addition of 0.05% lac pigment. The microbial growth of Listeria monocytogenes increased with increasing storage time. The addition of 2% SL and 0.3% chitosan with MW higher than $30{\sim}40\;kDa$ effectively inhibited the growth of L. monocytogenes. The microbial growth of L. monocytogenes was further reduced with increasing chitosan MW. These results indicated that the combination of SL with chitosans (MW > 30 kDa, 0.3%) and lac pigment (0.05%) improved shelf-life and color development in LFS during refrigerated storage.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.390-401
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• 2023

Major components of lac coloring include laccaic acids A, B, C, and E. The Korean Food Additive Code regulates the use of lac coloring and prohibits its use in ten types of food products including natural food products. Since no commercial standards are available for laccaic acids A, B, C, and E, a standard for lac pigment itself was used to separate laccaic acids from the lac pigment molecule. A standard for each laccaic acid was then obtained by fractionation. To obtain pure lac pigment for use in food by High performance Liquid Chromatography Photo Diode Array (PDA), a C8 column yielded the best resolution among various tested columns and mobile phases. A qualitative analytical method using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) Tandem Mass(LC-MS/MS) was developed. The conditions for fast and precise sample preparation begin with extraction using methanol and 0.3% ammonium phosphate, followed by concentration. The degree of precision observed for the analyses of ham, tomato juice and Red pepper paste was 0.3-13.1% (Relative Standard Deviation (RSD%)), degree of accuracy was 90.3-122.2% with r²=0.999 or above, and recovery rate was 91.6-114.9%. The limit of detection was 0.01-0.15 ㎍/mL, and the limits of quantitation ranged from 0.02 to 0.47 ㎍/mL. Lac pigment was not detected in 117 food products in the 10 food categories for which the use of lac pigment is banned. Multiple laccaic acids were detected in 105 food products in 6 food categories that are allowed to use lac color. Lac pigment concentrations range from 0.08 to 16.67 ㎍/mL.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.1060-1068
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• 2021

Community-associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is notorious as a leading cause of soft tissue infections. Despite several studies on the Agr regulator, the mechanisms of action of Agr on the virulence factors in different strains are still unknown. To reveal the role of Agr in different CA-MRSA, we investigated the LACΔagr mutant and the MW2Δagr mutant by comparing LAC (USA300), MW2 (USA400), and Δagr mutants. The changes of Δagr mutants in sensitivity to oxacillin and several virulence factors such as biofilm formation, pigmentation, motility, and membrane properties were monitored. LACΔagr and MW2Δagr mutants showed different oxacillin sensitivity and biofilm formation compared to the LAC and MW2 strains. Regardless of the strain, the motility was reduced in Δagr mutants. And there was an increase in the long chain fatty acid in phospholipid fatty acid composition of Δagr mutants. Other properties such as biofilm formation, pigmentation, motility, and membrane properties were different in both Δagr mutants. The Agr regulator may have a common role like the control of motility and straindependent roles such as antibiotic resistance, biofilm formation, change of membrane, and pigment production. It does not seem easy to control all MRSA by targeting the Agr regulator only as it showed strain-dependent behaviors.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.655-666
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• 2005

This study was performed to measure physicochemical and textural characteristics, and shelf-life effect of low-fat functional sausages(LFFSs) manufactured with sodium lactate(SL, 3.3%), lac pigment and various molecular weights(MWs) of chitosan (Low=1.5 kDa, Med=30-50 kDa and High=200 kDa) during storage at 15$^{\circ}C$ for 18 days. LFFSs had 73.7-76.0% moisture, lower than 3% fat and 14-15% protein, respectively. pH values were 6.05-6.44 and the control(150 ppm, $NaNO_2$) was the lowest among LFFSs (p<0.05). Increasing storage time decreased pH values, but no differences in pH values were observed up to 6 days of storage (p>0.05). LFFSs containing SL and low MW of chitosan improved water holding capacity (WHC) and different from those with SL and medium-MW chitosan. WHC was decreased with increased storage time and differences of WHC were observed from 18 days of storage. The addition of chitosan reduced both lightness and redness values, as compared to 150 ppm sodium nitrite(SN), and increased storage time decreased yellowness(p<0.05), especially at 12 days of storage. LFFSs with SL and medium-MW chitosan increased most textural properties compared to the control(p<0.05). The addition of SN of 150 ppm in LFFSs retarded microbial growth for E. coli 0157:H7, while those with SL tended to have an antimicrobial effect for Listeria monocytogenes(LM). The growth rate of LM was delayed by addition of various MW of chitosans in LFFSs, especially high MW chitosan, as compared to LFFSs containing SL alone. These results indicated that the functional, textural and antimicrobial effects of LFFSs were improved by addition SL and various MW of chitosan combinations. In addition, 0.05% lac pigment improved the cure color of LFFSs similar to those of 150 ppm SN.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.197-203
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• 2009

An indole oxygenase originated from Rhodococcus sp. RHA1 was cloned into the expression vector, pTrc99A, in Escherichia coli, and designated pTCAN1. The pTCAN2 was constructed from pTCAN1 by the deletion of $lacI^q$ for the constitutive expression of indole oxygenase without adding IPTG in the medium. The complete open reading frame of indole oxygenase was 1,224 bp long, which encodes a protein of 407amino acids. Crude extracts of E. coli $DH5{\alpha}$/pTCAN1 and pTCAN2, respectively, were prepared and subjected to SDS-PAGE analysis. A band corresponding to molecular mass of about 43 kDa was appeared and this result correlated with the predicted molecular mass of cloned indole oxygenase. The E. coli harboring pTCAN1 and pTCAN2, respectively, showed blue color colony in LB plate. The pigment showing blue color was prepared from E. coli $DH5{\alpha}$/pTCAN2, and identified as indigo by experiments using spectrophotometer, HPLC, and TLC. The indigo-forming activity of indole oxygenases from the whole cell of E. coli $DH5{\alpha}/pTCAN1$ cultured at LB medium added 1mM of IPTG and that of E. coli/pTCAN2 showed about 1.75nmol/min/mg DCW (dry cell weight) and 3.85 nmol/min/mg DCW, respectively. Also, the E. coli $DH5{\alpha}$/pTCAN2 produced about $236{\mu}M$ of indigo after 48 hours incubation in TB medium supplemented with 2.5 mM of tryptophan.