Assessment of Performance of the Industrial Process of Bulk Vacuum Packaging of Raw Meat with Nondestructive Optical Oxygen Sensing Systems

Application of electrospinning technique in development of intelligent food packaging: A short review of recent trends

Intelligent food packaging refers to packages with the ability to sense foodstuff changes and to inform customers of the packaging content variations. They are often accompanied by smart detecting devices. Providing a suitable platform to include these devices into packaging polymers has always been discussing. Electrospun nanofibers produced through the electrospinning have been recently utilized as an outstanding and novel platforms for this purpose. Thus, the main aim of this study is to investigate recent trends in producing intelligent food packaging using electrospinning technique. In this regard, this paper was categorized into two chief sections, including (a) the principal of electrospinning technique to fabricate fine nanofibers and the parameters affecting the quality of electrospun fibers, and (b) the role of nanofibers as a platform to cover pH indicators in intelligent food packaging.

Efficacy of bacteriophage and organic acids in decreasing STEC O157:H7 populations in beef kept under vacuum and aerobic conditions: A simulated High Event Period scenario

After High Event Periods, beef subprimals are usually removed from vacuum and treated with antimicrobials. After re-packaging, subprimals are tested to verify the presence of STEC. In this study, bacteriophage and organic acids were applied on beef contaminated with STEC O157:H7 to evaluate the efficiency of industry practices. Beef samples inoculated with STEC were treated with bacteriophage, lactic acid, and peroxyacetic acid and kept under vacuum or aerobic conditions. STEC loads were evaluated 30 min and 6 h after antimicrobial applications. Under aerobic conditions for 30 min and 6 h, phage reduced STEC in beef by approximately 1.4 log whereas organic acids led to a 0.5 log reduction. Under vacuum for 30 min, bacteriophage significantly reduced STEC by 1 log. No effects were observed when samples were treated with organic acids. Under vacuum after 6 h, bacteriophage reduced STEC loads by 1.4 log, lactic acid reduced by 0.6 log, and no effects were observed when peroxyacetic acid was applied.

Extracellular Oxygen Sensors Based on PtTFPP and Four-Arm Block Copolymers

Three four-arm amphiphilic block copolymers with different chain lengths, consisting of a hydrophilic chain of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and hydrophobic segment of polycaprolactam (PCL), were synthesized and used to encapsulate the high-efficient and hydrophobic oxygen probe of platinum(II)-5,10,15,20-tetrakis-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorophenyl)-porphyrin (PtTFPP) to form polymer micelles. This approach enabled the use of PtTFPP in aqueous solution for biosensing. Experimental results demonstrated that the particle sizes of these nano-oxygen sensors between 40.0 and 203.8 nm depend on the structures of block copolymers. PtTFPP in these micelles showed an effective quantum yield under nitrogen environment, ranging from 0.06 to 0.159. The new sensors are suitable for analyzing dissolved oxygen concentrations in the range of 0.04–39.3 mg/L by using the linear Stern–Volmer equation at room temperature. In addition, it has been shown that these sensors are capable of in situ monitoring the dissolved oxygens in the culture medium of E. coli and Romas cells during the respiration process, and distinguishing the drug activity of antibiotic ampicillin from that of antimycin A. This study showed that the use of these nanostructured multi-arm block copolymer micelles can achieve efficient biological applications without specific structural modification of the hydrophobic PtTFPP probe, which is expected to have broad prospects.