Prevalence, serological typing and pcr sensitivity comparision of salmonella typhimurium, salmonella enteritidis and salmonella spp. isolated from raw chicken carcasses

Poultry meat is the most popular food products worldwide. Salmonella are important foodborne pathogens especially in poultry. Objectives in this study were to determine the presence of Salmonella spp. and to detect the incidence of Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Enteritidis in 100 raw chicken carcasses. Carcasses which were collected from Istanbul (n = 100) for the detection of the organism by conventional culture method and confirmed of strains by PCR of DNA using invA and fliC genes. According to the results, Salmonella spp. was determined in 15 (15%) raw chicken carcass samples of 100 total samples analyzed due to both PCR and conventional culture method include serological tests; Four (26.6%) samples were identified as S. Enteritidis while 3 (20%) samples were S. Typhimurium of 15 total Salmonella spp. Sensitivity of PCR procedures for Salmonella spp. and S. Typhimurium were high and quite specific. However, the sensitivity of the mentioned procedure was very low for S. Enteritidis. It is being thought that PCR procedures can be good alternative methods to microbiological analysis procedures for Salmonella spp. and S. Typhimurium while microbiological analysis procedures have more advantages than PCR procedures for protection of the public health at the detection of S. Enteritidis

Effect of rapid chilling and pelvic suspension on meat quality of Longissimus dorsi muscle of lamb [Hi{dotless}zli{dotless} so?utma ve pelvik asi{dotless}lmani{dotless}n kuzulara ait longissimus dorsi kasi{dotless}ndaki et kalitesi üzerine etkisi]

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of rapid (RC) and conventional (CC) chilling with achilles (AS) and pelvic (PS) suspension on the meat quality of M. Longissimus dorsi. Twenty lamb carcasses were randomly allocated immediately prior to slaughter to the two experimental groups which were subjected to four different treatments. In the first group, carcasses were suspended from the Achilles tendon. Right sides (RC/AS; n=10) were rapidly chilled, while the left sides (CC/AS; n=10) were conventionally chilled. In the second group, the carcasses were re-hanged from the pelvic bone. Right sides (RC/PS; n=10) were rapidly chilled whilst the left sides (CC/PS; n=10) were conventionally chilled. Meat quality was evaluated by measuring the water holding capacity (WHC), cooking loss (CL), surface colour and shear force (SF). As a result, CC accelerated the rate of pH decline while RC increased the temperature decline. RC reduced CL and WHC values. PS had no impact on WHC, CL and color of steaks, but decreased the SF values on the 7th days of post-mortem. In conclusion; PS is a useful method for improving tenderness during storage period and the disadvantageous effect of RC on SF could be equalized by using PS

N-acetylcysteine reduced the effect of ethanol on antioxidant system in rat plasma and brain tissue

Chronic ethanol administration is able to induce an oxidative stress in the central nervous system. N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) has antioxidant properties; as a sulphydryl donor, it contributes to the regeneration of glutathione and it acts through a direct reaction with hydroxyl radicals. In this study we investigated a possible beneficial effect of NAC on some of the free radical related parameters. Twenty four male Wistar rats were divided in to three groups and were given ethanol (Group 1), ethanol and NAC (Group 2) and isocaloric dextrose (Group 3). Ethanol and NAC were given intragastrically at doses of 6 g/kg/day and 1 g/kg/day, respectively. Our results show that chronic ethanol intake elicits statistically significant increase in MDA and NO levels and decrease in SOD and GSH levels in both plasma and brain (p < 0.001). GPx levels decreased in erythrocytes (p < 0.001). CAT activity showed significant decrease only in brain samples (p < 0.001). NAC administration effectively restores the above results to nearly normal levels. Therefore we suggest that reactive free radicals are, at least partly, involved in the ethanol-induced injury of brain cells and NAC mitigate the toxic effects of ethanol on the oxidant-antioxidant system of rat plasma and brain. (C) 2002 Tohoku University Medical Press. (C) 2002 Tohoku University Medical Press

SELECTING SUITABLE FOREST AREAS FOR HONEY PRODUCTION USING THE AHP: A CASE STUDY IN TURKEY

Honey production forests (HPFs) are crucial forest areas for the preservation and transfer of biodiversity for future generations, provision of sustainable food safety, supporting rural development, and the rehabilitation of barren forests so that society can benefit from them. The purpose of this study is to prepare a model for conducting planning and prioritizing for HPF areas. For this purpose, using a multidimensional decision support model, we determined the most suitable three areas by way of prioritizing potential HPF areas identified. Bartin in Turkey which was chosen as the area of study, in line with the criteria (ecological-environmental, economic, and socio-cultural) set out using the participatory approach. The ranking and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methods were employed. The results of the study indicate that public institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) prioritize ecological-environmental criteria (especially the type of honey) in their identification of HPFs, whereas the locals care more about the economic criteria, especially the potential for honey production, when identifying HPFs. Moreover, the fact that the level of demand is at the top among the economy-based sub-criteria indicates that the demands and expectations of interest groups should definitely be taken into consideration in the functional provision of forest resources. If HPF areas are planned and established by paying attention to the priorities, HPFs would contribute to an increase in added value and social welfare in the local area as well as to employment, rural development, and the sustainable management of forest resources