Discriminant Analysis of the Nutritional Components between Organic Eggs and Conventional Eggs: A 1H NMR-Based Metabolomics Study

Multi-omics in food safety and authenticity in terms of food components

One of the main goals of food science is to ensure the high quality and safety of food. The inspection technology for known hazards has matured, and the identification of unknown and potential food safety hazards, as well as the identification of their composition and origin, is a challenge faced by food safety. Food safety and authenticity require multi-omics methods to support the implementation of qualitative discrimination to precise quantitative analysis, from targeted screening to non-target detection, and from multi component to full component analysis to address these challenges. The present review aims to provide characterizations, advantages, the latest progress, and prospects of using omics (including genomics, proteomics, and metabonomics) in food safety and authenticity. Multi omics strategies used to detect and verify different standard biomarkers of food will contribute to understanding the basic relationship between raw materials, processing, foods, nutrition, food safety, and human health.

Monitoring antimicrobial residues in table eggs in Aswan governorate markets and their impact on egg quality and public health

Background

Organic egg is among the most common organic foods offered for sale in Egyptian markets in recent years, and consumers buy them at a higher price because they believe organic eggs are safer and have superior nutritional value than conventional eggs.

Aim

The present work aimed to monitor antimicrobial residues in brown table eggs, whether conventional or organic type, in Aswan governorate markets and assessed their physical and chemical quality and their public health hazards.

Methods

Brown table egg samples (n = 400 total) were randomly selected in the present study, in which they represented two equal groups (n = 200 each) including conventional eggs and organic eggs. Eggs were collected from different retail stores in the Aswan governorate, Egypt. Egg samples were subjected to thorough physical and chemical quality evaluation as well as an assessment of antimicrobial residues.

Results

The results reported that organic eggs were cleaner and had a better odor, less blood, and meat spots, but smaller with more shell cracks than conventional eggs. Chemical analysis of some nutrient contents in the egg yolk revealed significantly higher nutritive values of organic eggs than that of conventional ones as the organic eggs contain significantly higher levels of vitamin A and vitamin D/D3 and significantly lower values of cholesterol, calcium, magnesium, and zinc than those in conventional eggs. Disc diffusion assay has been used for monitoring antimicrobial residues in egg samples. The results have shown that all examined organic eggs were free from antimicrobial residues, while 12% and 8% of conventional egg yolk and white were positive for antimicrobial residues, respectively.

Conclusion

The study concludes the higher nutritive value of organic eggs compared with the conventional type because of their significantly higher contents of vitamins A and D and their significantly lower contents of cholesterol. Moreover, organic eggs were free from antimicrobial residues which maximizes their public health benefits..

Food metabolomics: Latest hardware-developments for nontargeted food authenticity and food safety testing

The analytical requirements for food testing have increased significantly in recent years. On the one hand, because food fraud is becoming an ever-greater challenge worldwide, and on the other hand because food safety is often difficult to monitor due to the far-reaching trade chains. In addition, the expectations of consumers on the quality of food have increased, and they are demanding extensive information. Cutting-edge analytical methods are required to meet these demands. In this context, non-targeted metabolomics strategies using mass and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers (mass spectrometry [MS]) have proven to be very suitable. MS-based approaches are of particular importance as they provide a comparatively high analytical coverage of the metabolome. Accordingly, the efficiency to address even challenging issues is high. A variety of hardware developments, which are explained in this review, have contributed to these advances. In addition, the potential of future developments is highlighted, some of which are currently not yet commercially available or only used to a comparatively small extent but are expected to gain in importance in the coming years.