Antibacterial activity of different organic honeys against food pathogenic bacterium Clostridium perfringens

Clostridium perfringens is one of the most common causes of food poisonings and is known to cause human and animal diseases. It has been reported that C. perfringens has developed resistance to antibiotics. Antimicrobial properties of honey have been studied in order to confirm its action as a potential antimicrobial agent and also as a potential food preservative through inactivation, growth delay or growth prevention of food pathogenic microorganisms. This study had two different parts related on virulence of C. perfringens. In the first part of the study antimicrobial activity of five multifloral organic honeys from different parts of Finland and one multifloral honey originated from Argentina and Hungary were investigated against C. perfringens. Honeys were tested at the concentrations of 50% (w/v), 25% (w/v), 20% (w/v), 15% (w/v) and 10% (w/v). For the antimicrobial assessment a disc diffusion method was used and zone of inhibition was expressed as diameter. The minimum concentrations (minimum inhibitory concentration, MIC) needed for inhibition of bacterial growth were determined for honeys showing activity in dilutions of 50%. Four of the studied honeys showed good inhibitory activity (diameter >8 mm) compared to control sugar solution (diameter of 6.1 ± 1.5) against C. perfringens at the concentration of 50 % (w/v). All the active honeys were of Finnish origin. The broadest zone of inhibition was induced by North Carelien multifloral organic honey with willow herb as the main floral source (referred here as F) (diameter of 14,3 mm ± 0.6), followed by other North Carelien multifloral organic honey (diameter of 11 mm ± 2) with clover as the main floral source (referred here as E). In terms of MIC values North Carelien organic honey F was also the most efficient honey against C. perfringens and showed moderate antibacterial activity (diameter of 7-8 mm) even at 10% (w/v). The other active honeys showed moderate inhibitory activity in the dilution of 15%. To our knowledge this is the first report on the antimicrobial activity of organic honeys and antimicrobial activity of honey against C. perfringens. (Oinaala et al 2015) In the second part of the work C. perfringens isolates from healthy broilers and from broilers suffering from necrotic enteritis (NE) were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method in order to determine the presence of gene coding the NE toxin B (NetB), a novel toxin that has been strongly associated with the pathogenesis of NE. The netB toxin gene was detected in 30% isolates from broilers with necrotic enteritis and in 32.5% isolates from healthy broilers. In this study the presence of netB gene gives not enough information for predicting the virulence of C. perfringens isolates, thus, further investigations are needed

No saako sitä väinönputkea käyttää vai ei? : luonnontuotealan yrittäjien haasteita

Tässä erikoiskasvien liiketoimintahaasteita koskevassa raportissa koostetaan luonnonkasveja hyödyntävien yritysten toimintaympäristöstä juontuvia haasteita. Euroopan Unionin Uuselintarvikeasetus hämmentää alan yrittäjiä ja kehittäjiä sekä sovellusalansa että viranomaistulkintansa vuoksi. Raportissa perehdytään uuselintarvikeasetuksen lainsäädännölliseen taustaan, sen käytännön vaikutuksiin sekä siihen, miten luonnontuotealan tuoteinnovaatiot voitaisiin turvata myös uuselintarvikeasetuksen puitteissa. Kattavan käsityksen uuselintarvikeasetuksen tulkinnan merkityksestä luonnontuotealalla saa lukemalla johdannon ja johtopäätökset. Raportin liitteenä on myös luonnontuotealan kosmetiikkayrittäjyyden haasteita koskeva selvitys. Lisäksi raportissa luodaan lyhyt katsaus siihen, millaisia verotuksellisia erityiskysymyksiä luonnontuotealalla on

The Need for a Paradigm Shift in the Existing Strategies for Effective COVID-19 Control

Non peer reviewe

Luonnontuotteiden kemialliset yhdisteet

Luonnontuotteiden kemialliset yhdisteet -raporttiin on koottu keskeinen tutkimustieto Suomessa käytetyimpien luonnontuotteiden bioaktiivista yhdisteistä sekä terveys- ja hyvinvointivaikutuksista. Raportissa lisäksi kuvataan esimerkkejä luonnontuotteiden ainesosien käyttömuodoista ja markkinoilla olevista tuotteista. Raportti on katsaus aihepiirin tutkimustiedosta, luonnontuotteiden tunnistetuista hyvinvointivaikutuksista sekä ominaisuuksien hyödyntämisestä yritystoiminnassa. Raportti tuo esille luonnontuotteiden vaikuttavien yhdisteiden määrällisen laajuuden sekä vaikutusten ja käyttömahdollisuuksien monipuolisuuden. Luonnontuotteita ja niiden ainesosia voidaan hyödyntää paitsi elintarvikkeissa myös muun muassa hyvinvointituotteissa, kosmetiikassa, lääkeaineina ja rohdoksina. Luonnonmarjoja, -sieniä ja -yrttejä sekä muita luonnontuotteita on perinteisestikin käytetty moniin eri käyttötarkoituksiin, mutta lisääntyvä tieto näiden raaka-aineiden ominaisuuksista ja vaikutuksista on edelleen kasvattamassa ja monipuolistamassa niiden käyttöä. Selvitys toteutettiin osana Luonnontuotealan innovaatioverkosto ja toimialan uudet mahdollisuudet (LT-INNO) -hanketta, jota rahoitetaan Manner-Suomen maaseudun kehittämisohjelmasta 2007–2013. Hanketta toteuttavat Helsingin yliopiston Ruralia-instituutti, Maa- ja elintarviketalouden tutkimuskeskus (MTT), Oulun Ammattikorkeakoulu Oy, Teknologiakeskus KETEK Oy, Foodwest Oy, Itä-Suomen yliopisto sekä Lapin ammattikorkeakoulu Oy. Selvitys vie osaltaan eteenpäin hankkeen keskeistä tavoitetta luoda luonnontuotealan toimintaohjelma suuntaamaan alan tutkimus- ja kehittämistyötä ja yrittäjyyttä

Perception of food and locality among Chinese tourist experiences in Finland

The study applies qualitative methods to reach a more in-depth understanding of Chinese tourists’ relations to food during their visit to Finland. The main interest is to find out how they perceive food and tourism, local food, environmentally friendly food and organic food during their trip. The preliminary results show that the Finnish food and food culture is not familiar among Chinese tourists and they have difficulties to identify the local food in holiday destinations. Concept of organic food was better understood than environmentally friendly food. Attributes like healthy, safer, natural, green, expensive and luxury were associated to the organic food. Additionally, organic food was considered to fulfill high quality standards

Salvianolihappo-B- potentiaalinen anti-infektiivi Neisseria meningitidia-bakteeri-infektioita vastaan : SA-B meninkokki-infektioita vastaan

New methods against bacterial infections are needed due to antibiotic resistance and lack of effective vaccines. Antiadhesion therapy is a modern approach in preventing bacterial attachment to host cells. In our previous studies we have shown that berry polyphenolic fractions have binding inhibition activity against serious human pathogen Neisseria meningitidis. In this study new binding inhibitor against N. meningitidis was searched from a Chinese herbal medicine, Salvianolic acid B (SA-B), which is an active polyphenol isolated from the radix Salviae miltiorrhizae. Inhibition of meningococcal pili binding to bovine thyroglobulin, (reference glycoprotein for meningococcal binding), and to human epithelial cells (HEC-1B) was tested. SA-B inhibited pili binding to bovine thyroglobulin totally at the concentration of 0.3 mg/mL, and to HEC-1B cells at the concentration of 0.5 mg/mL. 50 % binding inhibition activity to bovine thyroglobulin was achieved with 0.6 µg/mL. Antimicrobial activity of SA-B against N. meningitidis was found only in relatively high concentrations. For comparison polyphenol macromolecular complexes isolated from Fructus Momordica (Momordica grosvenori Swingle) and wolfberry (Lycium barbarum L.) had only slight or none binding inhibitory effects. Our results indicate that SA-B may have potential in preventing infections by inhibiting meningococcal binding to host cells. New methods against bacterial infections are needed due to antibiotic resistance and lack of effective vaccines. Antiadhesion therapy is a modern approach in preventing bacterial attachment to host cells. In our previous studies we have shown that berry polyphenolic fractions have binding inhibition activity against serious human pathogen Neisseria meningitidis. In this study new binding inhibitor against N. meningitidis was searched from a Chinese herbal medicine, Salvianolic acid B (SA-B), which is an active polyphenol isolated from the radix Salviae miltiorrhizae. Inhibition of meningococcal pili binding to bovine thyroglobulin, (reference glycoprotein for meningococcal binding), and to human epithelial cells (HEC-1B) was tested. SA-B inhibited pili binding to bovine thyroglobulin totally at the concentration of 0.3 mg/mL, and to HEC-1B cells at the concentration of 0.5 mg/mL. 50 % binding inhibition activity to bovine thyroglobulin was achieved with 0.6 µg/mL. Antimicrobial activity of SA-B against N. meningitidis was found only in relatively high concentrations. For comparison polyphenol macromolecular complexes isolated from Fructus Momordica (Momordica grosvenori Swingle) and wolfberry (Lycium barbarum L.) had only slight or none binding inhibitory effects. Our results indicate that SA-B may have potential in preventing infections by inhibiting meningococcal binding to host cells.Peer reviewe

Natural product based anti-adhesion therapy : innovative prevention against bacterial infections

Proceeding volume: 13Peer reviewe

Antimicrobial activity of Finnish organic honeys against human pathogenic bacteria

Proceeding volume: 13Peer reviewe

Antimicrobial Activity of Croton macrostachyus Stem Bark Extracts against Several Human Pathogenic Bacteria

Peer reviewe