Brown rice and pulses for the development of shelf-stable and low glycemic index ready-to-eat meals

Shelf-stable low glycemic index ready-to-eat (RTE) risotto meals (in pouches) containing brown rice and pulses (recipe A = chickpeas; recipe B = lentils, and beans) were developed, stored for 12-months at room temperature, and characterized over time. RTE meals were heated in microwave (replicating home consumption procedure), and analyzed for in vitro starch digestibility, textural attributes, and consumer acceptability. Digestible starch fractions were similar in the formulations during storage, and in vivo testing demonstrated low glycemic indexes (recipe A = 43.5 ± 6.8; recipe B = 31.8 ± 6.5) for the two meals. Hardness of risotto components increased during storage and microwave heating did not fully recover textural attibutes characteristic of the fresh product. Consumers’ (50) acceptability remained high (>5.5 out of 9) until the end of storage. This study demonstrates brown rice with pulses can be used for developing stable and accepted ready-to-eat meals having low glycemic indexes

Report on the Verification of the Performance of a Construct-Specific Assay for the Detection of Flax CDC Triffid Event FP967 Using Real-Time PCR

Further to the detection by the German authorities of the unauthorised flax CDC Triffid event FP967 (Unique Identifier CDC-FLØØ1-2) in materials imported from Canada, a notification was sent through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) in September 2009. On 21st August 2009, the Community Reference Laboratory for Genetically Modified Food and Feed received from the German authorities a construct-specific method for the detection of flax CDC Triffid event FP967, developed by Genetic ID, Augsburg (Germany). The method developer declared this method as specific for event FP967 as it targets a transition sequence spanning the nopaline synthase (nos) terminator gene and the spectinomycin/streptomycin resistance gene, construction being found only in the flax FP967 event. On 11th September 2009, the CRL-GMFF received from the German authorities the FP967 positive control in the form of DNA extracted from seeds. Seeds were provided to the German authorities by the University of California, Riverside, USA. The CRL-GMFF carried out experiments on the control sample received in order to verify the specificity and the Limit of Detection (LOD) of the construct-specific method. The CRL-GMFF observed that the NOST-Spec (nos terminator ¿ spectinomycin resistance gene) construct-specific method generates a PCR amplification product of 105 bp, whose sequence is homologous to a transition sequence spanning the nopaline synthase (nos) terminator gene and the dihydrofolate reductase gene. The experimental testing of the specificity indicates that the NOST-Spec construct-specific assay does not detect genetically modified events under the conditions reported. The limit of detection (LOD) established is between 1 and 5 haploid genome copies of FP967.JRC.DDG.I.4-Molecular biology and genomic

Towards a Pathogenic Escherichia coli Detection Platform Using Multiplex SYBR®Green Real-Time PCR Methods and High Resolution Melting Analysis

Escherichia coli is a group of bacteria which has raised a lot of safety concerns in recent years. Five major intestinal pathogenic groups have been recognized amongst which the verocytotoxin or shiga-toxin (stx1 and/or stx2) producing E. coli (VTEC or STEC respectively) have received a lot of attention recently. Indeed, due to the high number of outbreaks related to VTEC strains, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has requested the monitoring of the “top-five” serogroups (O26, O103, O111, O145 and O157) most often encountered in food borne diseases and addressed the need for validated VTEC detection methods. Here we report the development of a set of intercalating dye Real-time PCR methods capable of rapidly detecting the presence of the toxin genes together with intimin (eae) in the case of VTEC, or aggregative protein (aggR), in the case of the O104:H4 strain responsible for the outbreak in Germany in 2011. All reactions were optimized to perform at the same annealing temperature permitting the multiplex application in order to minimize the need of material and to allow for high-throughput analysis. In addition, High Resolution Melting (HRM) analysis allowing the discrimination among strains possessing similar virulence traits was established. The development, application to food samples and the flexibility in use of the methods are thoroughly discussed. Together, these Real-time PCR methods facilitate the detection of VTEC in a new highly efficient way and could represent the basis for developing a simple pathogenic E. coli platform

Long-term follow-up of IPEX syndrome patients after different therapeutic strategies : an international multicenter retrospective study

Background: Immunodysregulation polyendocrinopathy enteropathy x-linked(IPEX) syndrome is a monogenic autoimmune disease caused by FOXP3 mutations. Because it is a rare disease, the natural history and response to treatments, including allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and immunosuppression (IS), have not been thoroughly examined. Objective: This analysis sought to evaluate disease onset, progression, and long-term outcome of the 2 main treatments in long-term IPEX survivors. Methods: Clinical histories of 96 patients with a genetically proven IPEX syndrome were collected from 38 institutions worldwide and retrospectively analyzed. To investigate possible factors suitable to predict the outcome, an organ involvement (OI) scoring system was developed. Results: We confirm neonatal onset with enteropathy, type 1 diabetes, and eczema. In addition, we found less common manifestations in delayed onset patients or during disease evolution. There is no correlation between the site of mutation and the disease course or outcome, and the same genotype can present with variable phenotypes. HSCT patients (n = 58) had a median follow-up of 2.7 years (range, 1 week-15 years). Patients receiving chronic IS (n 5 34) had a median follow-up of 4 years (range, 2 months-25 years). The overall survival after HSCT was 73.2% (95% CI, 59.4-83.0) and after IS was 65.1% (95% CI, 62.8-95.8). The pretreatment OI score was the only significant predictor of overall survival after transplant (P = .035) but not under IS. Conclusions: Patients receiving chronic IS were hampered by disease recurrence or complications, impacting long-term.disease-free survival. When performed in patients with a low OI score, HSCT resulted in disease resolution with better quality of life, independent of age, donor source, or conditioning regimen

A compendium of wheat germ: Separation, stabilization and food applications

Background Wheat germ is a precious by-product deriving from the milling industry, as it is a natural concentrated source of essential amino and fatty acids, minerals, vitamins, tocopherols, and phytosterols. However, the presence of high enzymatic activities together with a high content of unsaturated oil, induce a fast decrease in the nutritional value of wheat germ during storage and, consequently, strongly limit product's shelf-life. Scope and approach In recent decades, flour blends from raw or/and processed wheat germ received great interest from nutritional and technological perspectives. Nevertheless, the quality of the end-product strongly depended on the supplementation level, as well as the type and the severity of separation and stabilization techniques that wheat germ went through. Hence, in this review, the newest advances in wheat germ pre-handling approaches and food applications are discussed to provide relevant and updated information about its worthiness to be a part of the human diet. Key findings and conclusions To fully valorize and preserve the nutritious potential of wheat germ, effective pre-treatments of separation and stabilization are needed to guarantee its stability and suitability to meet food quality and safety standards. Such an underutilized ingredient might be a valuable fortifying component for a spectrum of foodstuffs

Current Trends in Ancient Grains-Based Foodstuffs: Insights into Nutritional Aspects and Technological Applications

For centuries, ancient grains fed populations, but due to their low yield, they were abandoned and replaced by high‐yielding species. However, currently, there is a renewed interest in ancient wheat and pseudocereal grains from consumers, farmers, and manufacturers. Ancient wheat such as einkorn, emmer, spelt, and Kamut®, are being reintegrated because of their low fertilizer input, high adaptability and important genetic diversity. New trends in pseudocereal products are also emerging, and they are mostly appreciated for their nutritional outcomes, particularly by the gluten‐free market. Toward healthier lifestyle, ancient grains‐based foodstuffs are a growing business and their industrialization is taking 2 pathways, either as a raw ingredient or a functional ingredient. This paper deals with these grain characteristics by focusing on the compositional profile and the technological potential

Peptides from gluten digestion: A comparison between old and modern wheat varieties

Coeliac disease is an autoimmune enteropathy that develops in genetically predisposed subjects after the ingestion of gluten or related proteins. Coeliac disease has an increasing incidence in the last years in western countries and it has been suggested that wheat breeding might have contributed to select more toxic forms of gluten. In this work, we analysed gluten peptides generated by in vitro digestion of different old and modern Triticum varieties, using LC-MS. We concluded that old varieties analysed produced a higher quantity of peptides containing immunogenic and toxic sequences than modern ones. Thus old wheat lines are not to be considered “safer” for subjects that are genetically predisposed to celiac disease

Applicability of the Real-Time PCR-Based Ready-to-Use Multi-Target Analytical System for GMO Detection in highly processed food matrices

Simple tools to detect the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMO) in commercial products represent a valuable aid in managing the legal requirements for GMO testing in a cost-effective way. The 'Real-Time PCR-Based Ready-to-Use Multi-Target Analytical System for GMO Detection' was developed to meet such requirements and was here further tested for its applicability on detecting GMO in recalcitrant matrices. Sixty-four highly processed maize products were purchased from the market of the European Union and analysed for their GMO content. Seventy-five percent of the test samples were positive for the presence of GMO. In one sample, trace amounts of a so-called asynchronously authorized GMO could be detected. The overall outcome of the analyses indicated that a good representation of the commercially available GMO for food use could be obtained by analysing a small subset of products. Finally, the use of the ‘Real-Time PCR-Based Ready-to-Use Multi-Target Analytical System for GMO Detection’ in detecting GMO reliably at the 0.1% mass level is documented. The implications of these results on the further development of such type of PCR-based GMO detection systems are discussed.JRC.I.3-Molecular Biology and Genomic