S82 Poster presentations / Current Opinion in Biotechnology 24S (2013) S48–S143
drying time. The purpose of the present study was to test and to
evaluate the effect of different levels of temperatures and air veloc-
ity on drying characteristics and quality changes of thin layer onion
slices. Drying experiments were carried out using a convective hot-
air dryer such that the hot air passed perpendicularly (from the
bottom up) through a thin layer of onion slices. The drying air tem-
peratures were 50◦ C, 60◦ C and 70◦ C, while air velocity was constant
at 2.0 m/s. Onion slices were not treated in any way before drying.
Moisture content, drying rates are calculated and also represented
in diagrams. Also, the ratio of the surface area and the volume was
measured. Time evolution of measured parameters is analyzed and
presented in diagrams. Three mathematical models (Page, Modi-
fied Page, and Henderson and Pabis) were examined for describing
the drying behavior of garlic slices under the above-mentioned
experimental parameters.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2013.05.236
Bio-protective cultures to improve the shelf-life of hamburgers
Giuseppe Comi, Marisa Manzano, Lucilla Iacumin
Department of Food Science, University of Udine, via Sondrio 2/A,
33100 Udine, Italy
E-mail address: giuseppe.comi@uniud.it (G. Comi).
Hamburgers are meat products with a very short shelf-life (7 days
at 4◦ C). Recently, combinations of protective technology have been
used to improve their shelf-life. This work focused on the use of bio-
protective cultures to reach the aim of extending the shelf-life and
improving the sensorial quality of this meat product. Lactobacillus
carnosus/Lactobacillus sakei/Staphylococcus xylosus, Lactococcus lac-
tis subsp. lactis/Lb. sakei/St. xylosus, Lb. carnosus/Lb. sakei/St. xylosus,
also in different ratio, were inoculated in hamburgers packed under
modified atmosphere. After 0, 6, 9, 12 days of storage at 4 ± 2◦ C,
microbiological and sensorial analysis were performed, as well as
colour, pH, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) were evaluated.
Lactobacillus and Staphylococcus spp. are typical bio-protective cul-
ture, which resulted able to limit the TVB-N production and inhibit
the Brochothrix thermosphacta growth, avoiding the formation of
the white slime on the surface of the product. Moreover, they influ-
enced flavour, odour and red colour stability of the hamburgers,
improving their sensorial quality; in fact, panellist preferred ham-
burgers inoculated with bio-protective cultures. The shelf-life of
the products was extended up to 12 days. In conclusion, LAB can
be suggested to improve the sensorial quality and the shelf-life of
hamburgers.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2013.05.237
Isolation and identification of gamma-aminobutyric acid
(GABA)-producing lactic acid bacteria for using as starter cul-
tures in Thai fermented sausage “Sai Krok Esan”
Sukanda Vichitphan 1,2 , Kanit Vichitphan 1,2 , Watchareeya
Wonghan 1
1 chain and a risk assessment should be performed, in case of high
Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Technology, Khon Kaen Uni-
versity, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand
2 Fermentation Research Center for Value Added Agricultural Products
(FerVAAP), Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand
E-mail address: sukanda@kku.ac.th (S. Vichitphan).
Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a four-carbon, nonprotein
amino acid that has been proved to be an inhibitory neurotrans-
mitter in mammalian brains. Various microorganisms, including
lactic acid bacteria (LAB) producing GABA, have been reported.
This research focused on the isolation and selection of lactic acid
bacteria from fermented meat products and used as pure culture
for the production of GABA-containing Sai Krok Esan (fermented
sausage produced in northeastern Thailand). It was found that
97 isolates exhibited a clear zone on MRS agar supplement with
1% CaCO3 , however only 7 isolates had ability to produce GABA
determined by thin layer chromatography (TLC). Those seven iso-
lates had been identified by sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The
result exhibited sequence similarity to the known sequences of
two species, including Lactobacillus plantarum (5 isolates; SSNH28,
SKKE2, SKKL1, SKKP1 and SKKP5) and Lactobacillus pentosus (2 iso-
lates; SKKE3 and SKKP2), respectively. GABA-producing LAB will
be selected and further used as pure starter culture to produce
health-beneficial GABA-containing Sai Krok Esan.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2013.05.238
Assessment of total aflatoxin and ochratoxin A in poultry liver
and kidney using ELISA
Oana Margarita Ghimpeteanu 1 , Elena Talmaciu 2 , Florica
Barbuceanu , Iuliana Ionascu , George Bogdanel Rosu 3 , Manuella
2 1
Militaru 1
1 University of Agronomical Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of
Bucharest, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Bucharest, Romania
2 Institute for Diagnosis and Animal Health, Bucharest, Romania
3 Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Departament Dambovita, Tar-
goviste, Romania
E-mail address: ghimpe marga@yahoo.com (O.M. Ghimpeteanu).
Aflatoxin and ochratoxin are the most common mycotoxins in
poultry feed and easily accumulate in liver and kidney of birds. This
leads to considerable economic losses for the poultry industry by
increasing mortality, decrease in body weight, number and quality
of eggs, greater feed conversion and immunosuppression. Further-
more, the risk associated with mycotoxin residues in poultry meat
and offal represents a concern in human health. The aim of this
study was to perform a short characterization of total aflatoxin and
ochratoxin A in poultry liver and kidney samples and their possible
effect on food safety. Organs with gross lesions from young slaugh-
tered poultry (42 livers and 42 kidneys) were collected from a large
sized slaughterhouse in Romania. The livers presented steatosis,
perihepatitis, multifocal miliary necrotic hepatitis, degenerative
and vascular reactions, while the kidneys showed conjunctive infil-
tration and vascular reactions. All samples were submitted to ELISA
bioassay in order to determinate the total aflatoxin concentration
in liver and ochratoxin A in kidney, respectively. The concentra-
tions for total aflatoxin in liver ranged from 0.07 to 0.13 ppb and
ochratoxin A in kidney between 0.05 and 0.57 ppb. Although it
is known that people can ingest mycotoxins from animal prod-
ucts, the concentrations obtained in this study showed that there
is no risk for human health linked to the consumption of poultry
liver and kidney, in the short term. However, in the medium/long
term, mycotoxins contamination represents a real risk for the con-
sumer health, because of their bioaccumulation through the food
contamination.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2013.05.239