Journal of Food Quality and Hazards Control
Volume:10 Issue: 3, Sep 2023

Few studies have been published about the quality of freshwater fish in Algeria. This study determined the chemical composition and the fatty acid of six species of freshwater fish cultivated in the North region of Algeria (Nile tilapia, red tilapia, common carp, Algerian barb, crucian carp, and mirror carp) as well as the nutritional quality of the lipids in these freshwater fish species.

One hundred and ten freshwater fish were randomly caught in the spring of 2021 from Achor Ali farm (Jijel), Beni-Haroun Dam (Mila), and EL-Agrem Dam (Jijel) from Algeria. Moisture, ash, protein, lipid, and fatty acids were measured according to standard laboratory procedures and protocols of previous studies. Statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA (XLSTAT 2014), and the pair wise comparison of the means was done by Tukeys test at the 5% significance level (p<0.05).

Regarding freshwater fish species, fatty acid profiles were discovered to have 38.94 to 57.75% Saturated Fatty Acids (SFAs), 29.35 to 46.63% Monounsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFAs), and 6.79 to 26.55% Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFAs). Common carp was a rich resource of Eicosapentaenoic Acid and Docosahexaenoic Acid (EPA+DHA) (5.38%); the highest concentration of ω-3 was recorded in crusian carp (10.63%); and Nile tilapia contained significant levels of ω-6 PUFA. Results demonstrated that the examined freshwater fish species appeared to have a good nutritional value and be a source of important fatty acids with positive effects on consumer health. On the other hand, results revealed low levels of PUFAs.

The examined freshwater fish species appeared to have a good nutritional value, but, it is important to provide diets rich in fatty acids, in particular PUFAs, to these freshwater fish to improve the nutritional quality of their lipids.

Potential resilient foods which help reduce hunger are converting the ~998 million tons of agricultural residue generated each year into human edible food. Although it is possible to extract Leaf Protein Concentrate (LPC) from agricultural residues, it is not widely practiced because both toxicity and yields of the protein concentrates have not been widely investigated in the most common agricultural residues.

To fill this knowledge gap, this study uses high-resolution mass spectrometry and an open-source toolchain for non-targeted screening of toxins of nine agricultural plant residues in October 2021; it included seven agricultural residues: corn/maize, wheat, barley, alfalfa, yellow pea, sunflower, canola/rapeseed, and two weeds/agricultural residues of kochia, and round leaf mallow.

The average yield ranged from about 7 to 14.5% for the nine LPCs investigated. According to the results, yellow pea, round leaf mallow, and canola are recommended for further investigation and scaling as they appear to be fit for human consumption based on the lack of dangerous toxins found in the analysis performed in this study.

All the compounds identified in these samples have either been approved by international regulatory boards for safe consumption or are known to be present in common beverages. The other agricultural residues require additional quantification of the toxins identified as it will determine the actual risk for human consumption. Overall, the potential for LPC to provide more needed calories from existing agricultural practices is extremely promising, but substantial amount of future work is needed to screen LPCs in all the agricultural residues depending on harvesting, handling, and storage conditions.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the most common cause of human infections of all members of the Vibrio genus, accounting for between 31 and 50% of the food poisoning cases. Consumption of food contaminated with V. parahaemolyticus can cause severe digestive infection with symptoms of watery or bloody diarrhoea, stomach pain, vomiting, fever, and dehydration. The objective of the study was to establish the reliability of Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time оf Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for identifying V. parahaemolyticus isolated from seafood marketed for human consumption.

A hundred and eighty seafood samples including mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis), veined rapa whelks (Rapana venosа), bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix), horse mackerel (Trachurus mediterraneus), gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), Argentine shortfin squid (Illex argentinus), and oysters (Ostreidae) were tested by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and MALDI-TOF MS for the presence of V. parahaemolyticus.

Of the tested 103 isolates, 44 (43%) samples were identified as V. parahaemolyticus by PCR, while 41 (40%) samples were confirmed as V. parahaemolyticus by MALDI-TOF MS. The PCR analysis using non-parametric t-test for comparison of the proportions confirmed 93% of the results obtained by MALDI-TOF MS.

MALDI-TOF MS showed high discriminative capacity and can be used for high reliability fast identification of V. parahaemolyticus in seafood samples.

Oil droplets from foods can cause the formation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in smoke and contaminate grilled food. The aim of this research was to examine the effect of the number of carbon atoms, degree of double bonds, and types of fatty acids on the formation of PAHs in smoke during grilling process.

Four fatty acids consisting of palmitic acid, stearic acid, linoleic acid, and oleic acid, and three animal oils consisting of chicken skin oil, beef oil, and striped catfish oil had been studied. The smoke obtained during the combustion of fatty acids and animal oils was collected in a PUF/XAD-2/PUF absorption tube, and the analysis of 16 major PAHs was done using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS). The experiments were conducted in three replicates.

Linoleic acid and oleic acid generated relatively higher concentrations of PAHs in the smoke, at 48.53 and 46.81 ppm, while stearic acid and palmitic acid provided PAHs in the smoke at 6.15 and 3.87 ppm. The rank of the highest PAH concentration levels in order of decreasing in smoke included striped catfish oil, chicken skin oil, and beef loin oil, with values of 50.22, 35.07, and 33.62 ppm, respectively. A variety of fatty acids were found in animal oils, but some fatty acids, such as arachidic acid (20:0), mead acid (20:3), behenic acid (22:0), erucic acid (22:1), cervonic acid (DHA) (22:6), lignoceric acid (24:0), and nervonic acid (24:1), were not found in chicken skin oil or beef oil. Fatty acids in the striped catfish oil had longer carbon chains (20:0, 20:3, 22:0, 22:1, 22:6, 24:0, 24:1) compared to other animal oils and a higher degree of double bonds, thus giving a higher PAHs concentration.

It can be concluded that PAH concentration present in the smoke of animal oils depends on the number of carbon atoms, the degree of double bonds in the molecules, and the types of fatty acids.

This study aimed to investigate the physicochemical properties, antimicrobial activity, and cytotoxicity of Thyme Essential Oil (TEO) encapsulated by chitosan nanogels.

In this study, chitosan-stearic acid and chitosan-capric acid nanogels were developed in two ratios of chitosan to fatty acid (10: 1 and 10: 3).

The results of Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy analysis showed a successful binding of chitosan to capric and stearic acids. Scanning Electron Microscope images revealed that particle formation improved with increase of the ratio of fatty acid to chitosan. The antimicrobial capacity of both encapsulation systems on three species of microorganisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans) was studied. A sustained release of curcumin was observed in Simulated Intestine Fluid. The developed nanogels did not have any toxicity on different cell lines. The results also showed that the antimicrobial capacity of TEO encapsulated with chitosan nanogels was higher (p<0.05) than the ionic method (use of sodium triphosphate incorporating chitosan).

The results have shown that encapsulating TEO in chitosan nanogels is a suitable alternative for synthetic antibiotics in different products.

Preserving the quality and safety of fish and its products is a critical concern for food industry. In the present study, the effect of green tea extract and olive leaves extract-based preservative coatings on chemical, microbial, and sensory quality of wild type Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) was determined during pre-freezing ice and subsequent frozen storage.

Forty-eight ponds raised tilapia, freshly caught in April, 2021, which were divided into three groups: group CT with no coating, group GTE with green tea extract-based coating, and group OLE with olive leaves extract-based coating. Fish samples in all groups were kept in ice for five days (1±2 °C) and then subjected to freezing (-18±2 °C) for 105 days. Chemical (moisture, ash, protein, fat, Total Volatile Basic-Nitrogen (TVB-N), pH) and microbial (Aerobic Plate Count (APC), Total Coliform (TC), Faecal Coliform (FC), Escherichia coli) parameters as well as sensory attributes (appearance, odour, acceptability, flesh color, Total Quality Index (TQI)) of tilapia in all groups were analysed after five days of ice storage and 15, 45, 75, and 105 days of frozen storage.

APC of tilapia treated with preservative coatings remained below the permissible limit (<5×105 Colony Forming Unit (CFU)/g) throughout the storage period. After five days, content of TVB-N in untreated samples of tilapia was 32.94±2.30 mg/100 g compared to 5.05±2.19 and 7.24±2.89 mg/100 g in tilapia treated with green tea and olive leaves extract-based coating, respectively. Fat content of untreated tilapia was significantly (p<0.05) reduced to 0.05±0.01% at the end of the study period from the the initial content of 0.24±0.04%. However, the tilapia treated with preservative coatings achieved significantly (p<0.05) lower scores of TQI compared with the untreated one owing to the coloration of fish with extract solution.

Green tea extract and olive leaves extract-based coatings can, therefore, be used to improve fish quality and safety during storage. However, there is a need to change consumer’s perception about the sensory attributes of fish.