Application of HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) system for the professional mastery of chemical risk to the operator.

In the field of chemical risk, conducting an evaluation process is often difficult. It is even more complicated in the small agri-food establishments, where the activity requires the use of chemicals without being registered so far in the business of chemistry. Therefore, the question to resort to the use of simple methods of chemical risks analysis, allowing better use of resources and economies.To help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Morocco to manage this risk daily, including food compagnies, our team has developed a simple methodology, based on the synergy of the principles of HACCP and OPERA method, it is the HACCP-OPERA approach. This approach develops a se-curity plan and creates a state of mind "quality, safety and health" in the company. This can favorite ser subsequently the establishment or improvement of a management system of quality, safety and health, minimizing the multiplicity of adopted approaches by the food company, for the management of risks related to the product and to the operator.The developed approach allows to conduct a simplified and progressive identification and chemical risk assessment. It allows, in particular, the critical points determination, establishing of critical limits of risk exposition, establishing surveillance measures and fasten action priorities. Indeed, it is recommended that this approach is put in place taking into account the own characteristics of the property.

Implementation of HACCP - OPERA approach to The assessment of chemical risks in a sugar factory in Morocco, based on the principles of HACCP - OPERA approach

To implement the principles of HACCP-OPERA, we have proposed in a previous work, to demonstrate its reliability and its application in the field and to present the limits of its implementation in an industrial site, a sugar factory in Morocco has launched a study of identification and risk assessment in chemical laboratory quality control of the beets on the basis of this new approach. The results showed that the risks were significant and strong impact on the health of operators such as, the manipulation of acetate of lead, formaldehyde and acetic acid that the risk of severity 156, 148 and 48 respectively, from which we could determine the critical points. Lead acetate for D (critical) = 0, acetic acid D (critical) = 4 and D Formaldehyde (critical point) = 1. These products can cause accidents and diseases, if the exposure was unacceptable and preventive measures were rarely established. HACCP-OPERA has enabled us, together, determine the critical limits for each CCP, a simplified and inexpensive: for D Lead acetate (critical limit) <0, the acetic acid D (limit critical) <4 and D Formaldehyde (critical limit) <1. Corrective measures must be put into action if the monitoring system shows the loss or the trend towards loss of control of a critical point. Also, the HACCP-OPERA presented difficulties in implementation, which limited us to identify and assess all chemicals listed on the site.

Effect of different doses of gamma irradiation on biochemical and microbiological properties of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) seeds

Seed irradiation during storage processes is one of the most effective methods to improve the seeds quality. This investigation was carried out to determine the effects of the different doses of ionizing radiation on biochemical and microbiological properties of sesame seeds and oil. To determine these effects, seeds were exposed to radiation with different doses 3, 6, 9 and 12 kGy to time period of 207, 413, 620 and 826 min respectively. The results showed that gamma irradiation had no significant (p>0.05) effect on the different parameters. The ionizing radiation has no negative effect on the biochemical and microbiological quality of seeds and sesame oils. On the contrary, irradiation at different doses preserves the properties of sesame throughout the duration of storage While, small differences, but sometimes significant (p<0.05), on protein and sugar contents were recorded between irradiated and non-irradiated samples. The samples irradiated with the different doses (3, 6, 9 and 12kGy) preserved a great antioxidative activity, a high phenolic, flavonoids and protein content during the 12 months of conservation. Also, gamma radiation has ensured great stability throughout the experiment with regard to acidity and peroxide index. While, for the microbiological parameters, all the samples treated with the different doses remained completely free of bacteria at the end of storage period (after 12 months)

Phenotypic, Morphological Diversity and Biochemical Characterization Of 14 Almond cultivars from Morocco

The aim of this study is focused on the identification and analysis of morphological,pomological and biochemical special characteristics of 14 almond genotypes from the experimental Ain Taoujadate collection to reach to the promising genotypes with special features of performance. Commercial and local (Prunus dulcis L.) cultivars vary considerably in their fruit and kernel characteristics. In the present study, fruit and kernel traits of 14 almond cultivars grown in Morocco, were examined. The cultivars included 8 major commercial and 6 Moroccan cultivars. Results showed significant differences exist among all genotypes across a number of morphological traits. The imported cultivars generally showed improved physical traits, such as larger fruit and kernels. In this concept, in order to supplement the morphology-based results, several molecular techniques including isoenzyme, SSRs, and AFLPs are required for describing diversity, for characterizing Moroccan almond  and for testing species differentiation at the molecular level and to establish a correlation between the different characters of almond cultivars studied.

IMPROVED MODEL-BASED POLARIMETRIC DECOMPOSITION USING THE POlINSAR SIMILARITY PARAMETER

In this paper, we present a new approach to solve the problem of volume scattering ambiguity in urban area, for that we propose a volume model based on the polarimetric interferometric similarity parameter (PISP) . The new model is more adaptive and fits better with both forest and oriented built-up areas. Thereby, a new model-based polarimetric decomposition scheme is developed. To test the performance of the proposed method ESAR PolInSAR L bande data of Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany is used. Comparison experiments show that the proposed method gives good results, since all the oriented built-up areas are well discriminated as double or odd bounce structures

Interactions bactéries-matériaux dans les canalisations d'eau potable: Rôle des propriétés physico-chimique de surface sur le pouvoir d'adhésion

International audienceLes profondes modifications phénotypiques et donc métaboliques qui surviennent au cours de la formation des biofilms bactériens constituent très certainement une difficulté majeure pour la conception de stratégies anti-biofilms dans l’industrie et la santé. Le but de cette étude dédiée aux biofilms présents dans les canalisations d’eau potable est de chercher à caractériser l’évolution des propriétés de surface des cellules bactériennes en relation avec le milieu environnant pour, ensuite, tenter de corréler ces changements avec la capacité des mêmes bactéries à former des biofilms matures. Notre étude porte sur deux modèles bactériens, Eschericia coli et Pseudomonas aeruginosa, et sur quatre matériaux polymères couramment utilisés au Maroc pour l’adduction d’eau. Les surfaces des cellules bactériennes et des matériaux sont analysés par la méthode de l’angle de contact, afin d’établir un modèle thermodynamique de l’interaction bactéries- matériaux, selon la théorie dlvo étendue développée par van Oss. De plus, la spectroscopie infrarouge a été utilisée pour rechercher des modifications des polysaccharides membranaires en réponse à des modifications physico-chimiques du milieu. Ces prédictions sont confrontées à des mesures d’adhésion effectuées sur les mêmes couples bactéries-matériaux, pour rendre compte des rôles respectifs joués par les interactions non-spécifiques (thermodynamiques) et spécifiques (biologiques). Sur cette base, un indicateur précoce de colonisation microbienne est proposé