Antifungal activity of silver nanoparticles green biosynthesis from the extract of Zygophyllum album (L.f.) on Fusarium wilt

This study illustrates the antifungal activity of green biosynthesis of a silver nanoparticle solution using one of Sinai’s natural plant extracts, namely Zygophyllum album which was used as a stabilizer and reducing agent to reduce Ag+ to metallic silver. In this study the plant extract was prepared by boiling in water for 10 min., 70% ethanol and wet autoclaving for 5 min. AgNPs were prepared using these three different extract methods. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and zeta potential techniques were employed to characterize the synthesis of nanoparticles. The size of particles ranged from 6.28 nm to 28.89 nm at x100 and the zeta potential had one peak at –16.6 mean (mV) at area 100% for green synthesized AgNPs from Z. album prepared from boiling in water for 10 min. The size of particles ranged from 6.64 nm to 54.82nm at 100x and the zeta potential had one peak at – 12.9 mean (mV) at 100% area for green synthesized AgNPs from the plant ethanol extract. The size of particles ranged from 9.39 nm to 31.93 nm at 100x and the zeta potential had one peak – 19.8 mean (mV) at 100% area for green synthesized AgNPs from the wet autoclaved plant extract of Z. album for 5 min. All treatments of plant extract and AgNPs solutions, prepared from these plant extracts of Zygophyllum album, were compared with the positive control and Tachigaren – 30% W/P was conducted on the radial growth of F. oxysporium and caused antifungal activity with a high inhibition percent. There was a highly significant difference between the various extraction techniques. Increasing the concentration of treatments was accompanied with a significant effect on Fusarium wilt. Thus, this study may provide a good alternative approach to control Fusarium wilt disease in the field and under storage conditions of vegetables. Our study suggests that silver nanoparticles of plant extracts can be used for controlling Fusarium wilt

Sensory and Chemical Quality Deviations of Popularly Manufactured Dry Sausage

Traditional dry sausages are one of the meat products that target globally by thousands of meat consumers. From a consumer perception point of view, the quality of this traditional meat product is of great concern. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the sensory and chemical quality of 100 samples of dry sausage marketed in Ismailia city, Egypt. Only 22 dry sausage samples were accepted in concern to their appearance and 56 samples were accepted in concern to their flavor. Out of 78 samples rejected for appearance, 43 (overfilling), 12 (fading) and 23 (discolored) rejected sausage samples. Out of 44 samples rejected for flavor, 28 (rancid), 10 (sour), and 6 (putrid) rejected sausage samples. The mean values of moisture, protein, fat, ash, CHO, and NaCl contents for dry sausage samples were 43.7, 15.3, 19.9, 4.3, 13.6, and 3.2 respectively. 90% of sausage samples corresponded with the standard limit of moisture content. Commercial fraud during the manufacture of the dry sausage was detected based on their protein content whereas 56% of the sausage samples were unfit with the requirement of Egyptian Standard for protein contents. The mean pH, TBA and TVB-N values for the examined dry sausage samples were 5.1, 0.9 (mg/Kg), and 14.9 (mg/100g) respectively. It could be concluded that a considerable number of dry sausage samples had deviation in their sensory and chemical quality and may have a negative effect on consumer satisfaction

Phenotypic and Genotypic Characterization of Methicillin Resistance in <i>Staphylococci</i> Isolated from an Egyptian University Hospital

Methicillin-resistant in Staphylococci is a serious public health issue. It is mostly encoded by the mecA gene. The mecC gene is a new mecA analog responsible for resistance to methicillin in some Staphylococcal clinical isolates. This mecC gene is still underestimated in Egypt. The aim of the current study was to detect mecA and mecC genes in clinical Staphylococci isolates from a tertiary care university hospital in Egypt compared to the different phenotypic methods. A total of 118 Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and 43 coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CoNS) were identified from various hospital-acquired infections. Methicillin resistance was identified genotypically using the PCR technique and phenotypically using the cefoxitin disc diffusion test, oxacillin broth microdilution and the VITEK2 system in all Staphylococcal isolates. The mecA gene was detected in 82.2% of S. aureus and 95.3% of CoNS isolates, while all of the isolates tested negative for the mecC gene. Interestingly, 30.2% of CoNS isolates showed the unique character of inducible oxacillin resistance, being mecA-positive but oxacillin-susceptible (OS-CoNS). The dual use of genotypic and phenotypic methods is highly recommended to avoid missing any genetically divergent strains