Research regarding the antimicrobial activity of essential oils against food borne bacteria and toxigenic fungi

The aim of this research was to evaluate the in vitro antimicrobial activity of seven essential oils against four different bacterial and five fungal strains that are involved in food poisoning and/or food decay: Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis, Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium culmorum, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus brasiliensis, using two methods: agar disc diffusion method and disc volatilization method. The majority of the selected essential oils presented inhibitory activity against all the microorganisms tested but essential oils of oregano, thyme and clove proved to develop the best antibacterial and antifungal activity both in direct contact and volatilization method and could be used for further investigation in active packaging of food

DIOXINS AND FURANS CONTAMINATION OF FOOD AND THEIR TOXICOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS ON THE HUMAN BODY MINI-REVIEW

Abstract Dioxins (sum of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins -PCDDs) and furans (polychlorinated dibenzofurans -PCDFs), are polychlorinated aromatic compounds with high toxic potential, which persist in the environment. Their degradation is extremely slow, they accumulate in the human body mainly through the consumption of contaminated food (in more than 90% of cases) and can not be destroyed by cooking or metabolized by living organisms. This study aims to underline the importance of their determination through advanced analytical methods such high-resolution gas chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC-HRMS), in order to increase the food safety

LOOKING FOR (RE)DEFINING UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY

The article presents a comparative analysis of the institutional university autonomy of the following EU member states: Denmark, Lithuania, Romania, Scotland and Sweden. Today we are witnessing the restructuring of various society sectors - the economy, labor market, social and political systems, etc. It is a process at state – nation level, as well as regional and global levels. Education systems in most countries, at their turn, react to this process and engage in radical reform of higher education in order to achieve economic, social and political objectives of the society. In this emerging environment universities have to review their position in order to redefine and adapt their functions, forming an autonomous space for proper decision making and, thus, playing an innovative role in the socio- economic environment

APPLICATION OF LASER TREATMENT WITH RADIATION STIMULATION IN ANNUAL SPECIES OF SEED GERMINATION DIANTHUS CARYOPHYLLUS - VAR CHABAUD AND PETUNIA HYBRIDA

Additional illumination with red light produced by laser diodes in continuous and different exposure times, was applied to seeds from two species of annual flowers: Garofita Dianthus caryophyllus - var. CHABAUD; FEUER KONING and romanian Petunia hybrid variety "WHITE CASCADE. The experimental results presented in the present study are a continuation of research initiated in 2009 ((P. Niculita , S. Danaila-Guidea, O. Livadariu , M. Ristici, J. Ristici si F. Burnichi, 2009 )and were aimed at testing the germination of seeds and development morphology induced by treatment effect based on laser radiation fields in the early stages of development of seeds under the effect of intensity light in the spectral range 640 nm - 660nm. Sets of seeds were irradiated once mounted on the first day of the experiment at different energy doses by changing exposure time. Thus the experiences of dry seeds were irradiated with different doses four lots in 2009 and 2010 corresponding variants V1-V4 (5-20 minutes). The experimental results were analyzed in parallel with a control group of seeds that did not apply to treatment of red laser diodes. In all the seeds analyzed from the two flower species studied germination capacity and that the growth of seedlings, determining germination percentages every two days for 3 weeks. Results have shown a percentage of germination higher than control group of seeds (75%) for all repetitions of variant V4 (95%), with exposure time of 20 minutes (1.53 joules / cm ²) to treatment with red light produced by laser modulated at audio frequency