ABSTRACT
Background: Spinach is one of the vegetables with a high concentration of nitrate which is affected by various processes such as cooking and refrigeration before consumption. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of home cooking method, which has not been studied before, on the level of nitrate and nitrite in spinach. The effect of refrigeration was studied, as well
Methods: After removing non-edible parts of spinach, it was cut into 4-7 cm pieces. Then, it was washed with deionized water thrice and drained. A part of raw spinach was set aside to measure the nitrate and nitrite and the other part was heated in a closed container without adding water, until almost all the water of the spinach was evaporated and then refrigerated. HPLC method was used to measure the nitrite and nitrate levels. The collected data were analyzed using Wilcoxon test by SPSS
Results: The mean concentrations of nitrate and nitrite in the raw spinach were 336.54 +/- 182.2 and 26.49 +/- 10.07 mg/kg, respectively. Cooking process caused a significant increase in the level of nitrate, while refrigeration process led to a significant decrease in this regard. Besides, a slight reduction was observed in the nitrite level after cooking, but the change was not statistically significant. Refrigeration also had no significant effects on the nitrite level of spinach
Conclusion: Considering the non-significant changes in nitrite levels, it seems that home cooking without adding water, unlike refrigeration, is not a proper method to reduce the intake of nitrates and nitrites from spinach
ABSTRACT
Background: The consumption of healthy food is considered as an essential need to devoid the physical, chemical, and biological hazards. The importance of this issue is more conspicuous in places such as hospitals where people with somehow compromised immune systems are under treatment. Therefore, this research aimed to evaluate the microbiological quality of food contact surfaces in a kitchen in one of the hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences
Methods: In the present study, samples were taken from 48 food contact surfaces according to ISO 18593:2004[E] and placed into the bags containing diluting solution; they were then transferred to the laboratory for microbial analysis in the cold chain. The microbial analysis was carried out according to ISO 4833-1:2013 and BS ISO 4832:2006 for enumeration of total bacterial count and coliform
Results: Based on the results presented here, 39.6% and 85.7% of the samples showed acceptable contamination with regard to the enumeration of total bacterial and coliform count. Besides, 18.2% and 72.7% of work surfaces groups [cutting board, table, and hand] showed acceptable contamination with regard to the enumeration of total bacterial count and coliform in comparison to the standards. Furthermore, 45.9% and 89.2% of other surfaces showed acceptable total bacterial and coliform count, respectively
Conclusion: The results showed that safe management of the kitchen, education of the staff and also improvement of the equipment used are necessary
ABSTRACT
Background: Although enteral feeding solutions are used to reduce the morbidity and mortality in many malnourished and hospitalized patients, microbial contamination of these products may lead to severe infections, especially in immune suppressed ones. The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbiological quality of commercial enteral feedings in two hospital settings in Shiraz
Methods: Twenty commercial enteral feedings were collected immediately after preparation and then homogenized and serially diluted on the same day. MPN methods were used to evaluate the total viable count and Escherichia coli count. They were also tested for total coliform [pour plate method] and the presence of coagulase positive staphylococci. The results were compared with standard limits
Results: All samples had a total viable count lower than 10[4] colony forming units [CFU] per g [the maximum recommended level of FDA standard].For all enteral feedings, coliform counts were not detectable [<10 CFU/g].Escherichia coli counts were also lower than those of Brazilian legislation [<3 CFU/g]. Coagulase positive staphylococci were recovered just from one sample [5%]
Conclusion: Freshly prepared commercial enteral feeding samples h ad a cceptable m icrobial q uality. S uch p roducts are considered to be more acceptable than hospital prepared ones. However, further steps involved in the preparation and administration of commercial feedings can be sources of microbial contamination. Thus implementation of hygienic practices and monitoring procedures during preparation and administration can be suggested
ABSTRACT
Background: The Prangos ferulacea [PF]-yogurt is a traditional food in Iran. This study investigated the effects of PF on the microbial, physicochemical and sensory properties of probiotic yoghurt
Methods: Pasteurized low fat milk was heated up to 85 degreeC, cooled to 40 degreeC, and then mixed with conventional and Lactobacillus casei starter cultures incubated at 37 degreeC until pH decreased to 4.6. Then, the cooked PF was added to yogurt and stored at 5 degreeC for 21 days. Acidity, Syneresis, probiotic colony count and sensory evaluation of yoghurt was determined during the storage time. The experiments were replicated for three times. Probiotic yogurt [PY] was examined as the control and probiotic yoghurt containing 10, 20 and 30% Prangos ferulacea [PFY] as the samples
Results: Total titratable acidity of PFYs compared to PY was not significant during 21 days. The syneresis rate of PFY yogurt showed significant differences compared to PY during storage time [P<0.001]. Comparison of the mean scores of sensory attributes [taste, odor, syneresis, mouth feel and color] of PFY yogurt showed that there were no significant differences with PY. Enumeration of lactobacillus casei [logCFU/mL] revealed significant differences in PFYs compared to PY in each experimental day [P=0.040]. At the end of the storage time [day 21], the highest number of L.casei was observed in PY and PFY 20% and the lowest in PFY30%
Conclusion: Adding Prangos ferulacea [20%] to probiotic yogurt prevented an increase in acidity, a decrease in syneresis rate and an increase in the number of probiotic bacteria during 21 days. Results showed that the highest number of probiotic bacteria was seen in probiotic yogurt containing 20 percent Prangos ferulacea; probably, the existing fiber and some nutrients in Prangos ferulacea promoted the viability of probiotic bacteria