• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.37 no.5
• /
• pp.376-386
• /
• 2011

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbial hazards posed by food utensils and fixtures in food service operations at selected middle and high schools located in Seoul, Korea. Methods: We collected 200 samples of utensils and fixtures including cups, spoons/chopsticks, food trays and tables from five different schools in Seoul. Target microorganisms of this study were divided into two groups: total bacterial count and total coliform as indicators of microbial contamination and Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus as pathogens of food poisoning. We used selective media to quantify microbial concentration and 16S rRNA PCR assay for qualitative analysis. In addition, intensive interviews with nutritionists were conducted and observations were made to identify factors that may affect microbial contamination. Logistic regression analysis was employed to examine the relationship between the microbial concentration and operation characteristics of each operation. Results: The level of microbial concentration in school B and C were significantly lower than in school A, D and E (p<0.05). Some samples from school A, D and E showed over 3.4 log CFU/100 $cm^2$ (total bacterial count) and 1.0 log CFU/100 $cm^2$ (total coliform), which requires immediate hygienic action. The number of customers per staff member, periodicity of hygiene education for staff and daily operation time of sterilizers were also found to be important factors related with the microbial contamination of food service operations. Conclusions: These results suggested that not only a HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) approach, but also efforts to assess internal risk factors within operations be needed to reduce the microbial contamination of food utensils and fixtures. This study is expected to provide preliminary data for assessing microbial hazards in food service operations.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.52 no.3
• /
• pp.121-125
• /
• 2009

We measured the influence of antifungal antagonists Bacillus subtilis AH18 and Bacillus licheniformis K11 on soil microbial community in microcosms. Both antifungal antagonists were confirmed to suppress hot pepper phytophthora blight. Phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) were analyzed to investigate the soil microbial community. B. subtilis AH18 changed the total PLFA composition and bio-indicators of PLFA, compared with other treatments. B. subtilis AH18 decreased the proportion of bacteria and gram negative/gram positive bacteria, and increased the fungi/bacteria and anaerobic/aerobic microorganisms. In addition cy19:0/18:$1{\omega}7c$, which means adaptation to unfavorable environmental conditions, was increased by the application of B. subtilis AH18. On the other hand the inoculation of B. licheniformis K11 or combined inoculation of both antifungal strains did not affect soil microbial community. The suppression of phytophthora blight and preservation of indigenous soil microbial community may be achieved by the combined application of B. subtilis AH18 and B. licheniformis K11.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.55 no.5
• /
• pp.670-680
• /
• 2022

Owing to the lack of a cold-chain distribution system, most seafood is generally distributed under room temperature conditions. However the degradation of freshness during the distribution process can lead to disputes between sellers and consumers. The most widely used method for low-temperature distribution for seafood includes packaging it with styrofoam boxes and cold packs. In this study, vacuum-packed frozen fillets of four fish species of [white meat (Paralichthys olivaceus and Sebastes schlegelii) and red meat (Scomber japonicus and Scomberomorus niphonius)] were placed in styrofoam boxes with cold packs. Thereafter, changes in chemical (including pH, volatile basic nitrogen, and trimethylamine), physical (odor intensity, hardness, and chewiness), and microbial (viable cell count) characteristics of the fillets were measured during storage at 25℃. To identify the suitable method of determining freshness during the room-temperature distribution, several factors were considered, which included significant difference verification, correlation coefficients, and economic efficiency (experimental cost and time). Volatile basic nitrogen, pH, odor intensity, and viable cell count are the most rapid and accurate freshness indicators for determining freshness of frozen fish fillets during.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.43 no.5
• /
• pp.650-658
• /
• 2010

We used green manure crops such as hairy vetch, crimson clover, rye, sorghum, and sudan grass by mixing with soils to assess the effects of green manure crops on nutrient supply and soil quality improvement. Temporal changes in soil inorganic nitrogen, carbohydrate, microbial biomass, and humus content were determined as soil quality indicators. Inorganic nitrogen content of the control maintained similar level during the whole period, but it had continually increased until 4 weeks after incorporation (WAI) of green manure crops. Especially, inorganic nitrogen content sharply increased in sudan grass. After incorporation of green manure crops, temporal change of soluble sugar in soils was as follows: it had gradually increased in legume green manure crops-incorporated soils until 7 WAI, which was the highest, and then showed the tendency to be reduced. Meanwhile, it in non-legume green manure crops-incorporated soils rapidly increased after the incorporation, and reached the maximum around 4 WAI. Humic acid by the decomposition of crop residues in green manure crops-incorporated soils was greatly enhanced with the elapsed time of 4 WAI, although it was low at the same level as the control until 2 weeks. In addition, there was a difference in fulvic acid by incorporated crops, fulvic acid in hairy vetch, sorghum and sudan grass showed a similar tendency with the change in humic acid. Our results suggest that soluble sugar, microbial activity and humic acid could be available indicators to evaluate the fertility of green manure crops-incorporated soils.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.26 no.7
• /
• pp.1320-1332
• /
• 2016

Light hydrocarbons accumulated in subsurface soil by long-term microseepage could favor the anomalous growth of indigenous hydrocarbon-oxidizing microorganisms, which could be crucial indicators of underlying petroleum reservoirs. Here, Illumina MiSeq sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene was conducted to determine the bacterial community structures in soil samples collected from three typical oil and gas fields at different locations in China. Incubation with n-butane at the laboratory scale was performed to confirm the presence of "universal microbes" in light-hydrocarbon microseepage ecosystems. The results indicated significantly higher bacterial diversity in next-to-well samples compared with background samples at two of the three sites, which were notably different to oil-contaminated environments. Variation partitioning analysis showed that the bacterial community structures above the oil and gas fields at the scale of the present study were shaped mainly by environmental parameters, and geographic location was able to explain only 7.05% of the variation independently. The linear discriminant analysis effect size method revealed that the oil and gas fields significantly favored the growth of Mycobacterium, Flavobacterium, and Pseudomonas, as well as other related bacteria. The relative abundance of Mycobacterium and Pseudomonas increased notably after n-butane cultivation, which highlighted their potential as biomarkers of underlying oil deposits. This work contributes to a broader perspective on the bacterial community structures shaped by long-term light-hydrocarbon microseepage and proposes relatively universal indicators, providing an additional resource for the improvement of microbial prospecting of oil and gas.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.26 no.10
• /
• pp.1723-1735
• /
• 2016

Pyrosequencing analysis of intestinal microflora from healthy Thai vegetarians and non-vegetarians exhibited 893 OTUs covering 189 species. The strong species indicators of vegetarians and non-vegetarians were Prevotella copri and Bacteroides vulgatus as well as bacteria close to Escherichia hermanii with % relative abundance of 16.9 and 4.5-4.7, respectively. Core gut microbiota of the vegetarian and non-vegetarian groups consisted of 11 and 20 different bacterial species, respectively, belonging to Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria commonly found in both groups. Two species, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Gemmiger formicilis, had a prevalence of 100% in both groups. Three species, Clostridium nexile, Eubacterium eligens, and P. copri, showed up in most vegetarians, whereas more diversity of Collinsella aerofaciens, Ruminococcus torques, various species of Bacteroides, Parabacteroides, Escherichia, and different species of Clostridium and Eubacterium were found in most non-vegetarians. Considering the correlation of personal characters, consumption behavior, and microbial groups, the age of non-vegetarians showed a strong positive correlation coefficient of 0.54 (p = 0.001) to Bacteroides uniformis but exhibited a moderate one to Alistipes finegoldii and B. vulgatus. Only a positive moderate correlation of body mass index and Parabacteroides distasonis appeared. Based on the significant abundance of potential pathogens, the microbiota of the non-vegetarian group showed an abundance of potential pathogen varieties of Bilophila wadsworthia, Escherichia coli, and E. hermannii, whereas that of the vegetarian group served for only Klebsiella pneumoniae. These results implied that the microbiota of vegetarians with high abundance of P. copri and low potential pathogen variety would be a way to maintain good health in Thais.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
• /
• v.32 no.5
• /
• pp.396-403
• /
• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate water quality for irrigation water used in Napa cabbage cultivation. The water samples were analyzed for physiochemical and microbiological quality for a total of 111 samples including surface water (n = 75) and groundwater (n = 36) collected from five different regions where Napa cabbage is massively grown. As a conclusion, the levels of fecal indicators for surface water were higher than those for groundwater. The numbers of coliform from surface water and groundwater were 1.96-4.96 and 0-3.98 log MPN/100 mL, respectively. Enterococci were detected in 95% (72/75) of surface water samples and 22% (8/36) of groundwater samples. Besides, 97% (73/75) of surface water samples were observed being contaminated with Escherichia coli, and 22% (8/36) of groundwater sample was positive for E. coli. In the case of surface water, E. coli and coliform correlate to T-P, and enterococci showed relevance to the suspended solid (SS) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). In groundwater, fecal indicator bacteria showed relevance to the SS and chemical oxygen demand (COD). These results could be provided as fundamental date for establishing microbial standard of water used in leafy vegetables cultivation.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.42 no.3
• /
• pp.227-233
• /
• 2017

Purpose: Morphological properties of soybean roots are important indicators of the vigor of the seed, which determines the survival rate of the seedlings grown. The current vigor test for soybean seeds is manual measurement with the human eye. This study describes an application of a machine vision technique for rapid measurement of soybean seed vigor to replace the time-consuming and labor-intensive conventional method. Methods: A CCD camera was used to obtain color images of seeds during germination. Image processing techniques were used to obtain root segmentation. The various morphological parameters, such as primary root length, total root length, total surface area, average diameter, and branching points of roots were calculated from a root skeleton image using a customized pixel-based image processing algorithm. Results: The measurement accuracy of the machine vision system ranged from 92.6% to 98.8%, with accuracies of 96.2% for primary root length and 96.4% for total root length, compared to manual measurement. The correlation coefficient for each measurement was 0.999 with a standard error of prediction of 1.16 mm for primary root length and 0.97 mm for total root length. Conclusions: The developed machine vision system showed good performance for the morphological measurement of soybean roots. This image analysis algorithm, combined with a simple color camera, can be used as an alternative to the conventional seed vigor test method.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.249-257
• /
• 2015

The purposes of this study were to develop a small scale post-harvest facility, and consequently to evaluate the effects of applying the facility along with hygiene education on the level of microbial safety in Korean leeks production. A total of 135 samples were collected at three Korean leeks farms in Yangju, Gyeonggi province. Food safety indicators (Aerobic plate count (APC), coliform count, and Escherichia coli) and foodborne pathogens (E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Bacillus cereus) on/in the samples were assessed. The microbial load measured as APC with harvesting tools such as comb, chopping board, and knife, at the farms where the small scale post-harvest facility had been operated (Farms A and B) was lower than that at another farm having no post-harvest facility (Farm C) by 1.44~2.33 log CFU / $100cm^2$. Moreover, the chopping board from Farm C was observed being contaminated with B. cereus at 6.03 log CFU / $100cm^2$. The coliform counts from the samples increased by 0.57~1.89 log CFU/g after leeks was submerged in ground water for washing. E. coli was recovered from leeks, soil, and the ground water used in the washing process, while no E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., and L. monocytogenes was detected. Our results indicated that the small scale post-harvest facility developed in this study as well as the hygiene education played an important role in enhancing the level of microbial food safety in the leeks production environment. However, a disinfection technique could be needed during the washing step in order to prevent a potential contamination.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
• /
• v.29 no.6
• /
• pp.849-859
• /
• 2016

Edible insects have gained recognition worldwide as complementary protein sources. Recently, four edible insects were newly allowed to be used as food materials in Korea: the mealworm (Tenebrio molitor), the cricket (Velarifictorus asperses), the white-spotted flower chaffer beetle larva (Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis), and the rhinoceros beetle larva (Allomyrina dichotoma). In this study, we evaluated the oxidative stabilities of these four edible insects during cold storage. The insects were sacrificed by blanching for 3 minutes in boiling water. The blanched insects were then stored at $4^{\circ}C$ in an incubator for 42 days. The color values, titratable acidity, peroxide values, acid values, TBARS, contents of VBN, and total plate counts of the insects were measured at days 0, 2, 4, 7, 10, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42, respectively. Blanching decreases oxidative stresses during storage. At day 0, the white-spotted flower chaffer beetle larva showed the highest values for acid value, TBARS, VBN, and microbial counts. Most of the oxidative indicators were significantly changed at day 14 in all four insects, possibly related with the growth on all microbial plates. Based on microbial safety and the oxidative stabilities of lipids and proteins, optimal storage conditions for the cricket, the white-spotted flower chaffer beetle larva, and the rhinoceros beetle larva were 10~14 days at $4^{\circ}C$. Likewise, the mealworm showed rapid oxidation after day 14, but poor qualities were not observed until day 28.