A study on the impact of double external shocks on Chinese wholesale pork prices.

Introduction: Fluctuation in pork prices has always been a focus of academic attention. This paper examines the impact of double external shocks on pork prices, to provide reference for the impact of future outbreaks on the pork market. Methods: This paper constructs a natural experiment based on the time and regional differences in the occurrence of the epidemics. Double difference models and triple difference models are used to identify the impacts of African swine fever and COVID-19 on Chinese pork prices. Results: The results found that both African swine fever and COVID-19 positively affected pork prices, but African swine fever had a greater degree of impact; before the COVID-19 epidemic, African swine fever caused a more significant increase in pork prices; the impact of a single African swine fever shock was greater than the double shocks. Discussion: The COVID-19 epidemic may have curbed the further increase in pork prices, due to the decreased market consumption demand caused by the epidemic.

Investigating the core microbiota and its influencing factors in traditional Chinese pickles.

Pickles are a type of traditional fermented food in Northeast China that exhibit a broad variety of preparations, flavors and microbial components. Despite their widespread consumption, the core microorganisms in various traditional pickles and the precise impact of ecological variables on the microbiota remains obscure. The present study aims to unravel the microbial diversity in different pickle types collected from household (12 samples) and industrial (10 samples) sources. Among these 22 samples tested, differences were observed in total acid, amino acid nitrogen, nitrite, and salt content. Firmicutes and Ascomycota emerged as the predominant microbial phyla as observed by Illumina MiSeq sequencing. Amongst these, the commonly encountered microorganisms were Lactobacillus, Weissella and yeast. Comparative analysis based on non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), showed that the microbial community in the pickles was affected by external conditions such as major ingredients and manufacturing process. Correlation analysis further showed that the resident core microorganisms in pickles could adapt to the changing internal fermentation environment. The insights gained from this study further our understanding of traditional fermented foods and can be used to guide the isolation of excellent fermented strains.