Papers by Cinzia Cardamone
International Journal of Food Microbiology
Radiation Physics and Chemistry, Nov 1, 2020
This study aimed to verify the applicability of the EN 1787 method for the detection of irradiati... more This study aimed to verify the applicability of the EN 1787 method for the detection of irradiation in herbal ingredients used in Plant Food Supplements (PFSs). In matrices such as herbs and spices the main limit of the method is the presence of intrinsic radicals responsible for spurious signals leading to complex ESR spectra. To overcome this limit, before ESR measurement a treatment with alcohol has been proposed (Delincée and Soika, 2002; Ahn et al., 2012, 2014). As reported in the literature, this treatment is expected to reduce/eliminate the confounding signals so that the samples may be correctly classified. In this study the efficacy of the pre-treatment was tested on raw herbal ingredients largely used for PFSs, namely Camellia sinensis, Cinnamomum verum, Curcuma longa, Ginkgo biloba, Silybum marianum, Vaccinium myrtillus and Zingiber officinale. Non-irradiated and irradiated (5, 10 kGy) samples were analysed before and after pre-treatment. The results showed a general decrement of signal intensity. In some cases, this was associated with the elimination of some spurious signals, which, however, did not always ensue in an easier interpretation of the ESR spectra. Only for two matrices (Camellia sinensis and Vaccinium myrtillus) was alcoholic extraction crucial for the correct classification of the samples.
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Mar 1, 2020
Lactic acid bacteria populations dominated in control and experimental Pecorino Sicilian cheese... more Lactic acid bacteria populations dominated in control and experimental Pecorino Sicilian cheese productions. Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella Enteritidis, as well as Staphylococcus aureus were completely disappeared after 60 days of ripening. The Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA analysis demonstrated the presence of the added strain during production. Production conditions of PDO Pecorino Siciliano cheese decreased growth of four main dairy pathogens.
Cronobacter ( Enterobacter sakazakii ) is an emerging foodborne pathogen that causes neonatal men... more Cronobacter ( Enterobacter sakazakii ) is an emerging foodborne pathogen that causes neonatal meningitis , necrotizing enterocolitis and sepsis with case-fatality rates of 20- 50%. Contaminated infant formula has been epidemiologically identifi ed as the source of transmission, although this organism has been isolated from a wide range of foods, food ingredients or food production environments
Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT), Dec 6, 2017
The PDO "Vastedda della valle del Belìce" is a Sicilian pasta filata sheep cheese, made from raw ... more The PDO "Vastedda della valle del Belìce" is a Sicilian pasta filata sheep cheese, made from raw milk without starter addition. It is a small round cheese without rind, weighing about 500-700 g. It is cheese is marketed also out of Sicily to allow its marketing and to prolong its shelf-life. The aim of this work was to evaluate the variation of microbiological parameters during the shelf-life period. Then 162 Vastedda cheeses from 18 cheese-making processes in 7 farms have been analysed at different times of storage at 4°C (0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 105, 120 days). Coliforms and E. coli were detected into 7/18 cheese-making processes and their count decreased during the storage period. Enterococci were more resistant to high temperature achieved during the stretching and their were rather stable during storage period (10 5 cfu/g). The concentration of total Bacterial Count and Mesophilic Lactococci were around 10 7 cfu/g, while the concentration of Thermophilic Lactococci was higher (10 8 cfu/g) probably due to the stretching at 90°C. In conclusion, this study shows the good sanitary conditions of cheeses. Overall, the lactic flora was kept alive and vital at high concentration (> 10 7 cfu/g) until 120 days of storage.
... CMT). Fra i 63 campioni presi in considerazione, 6 erano positivi per Listeria monocytogenes ... more ... CMT). Fra i 63 campioni presi in considerazione, 6 erano positivi per Listeria monocytogenes (5 prodotti carnei e 1 formaggio), uno era positivo per Salmonella spp. (durelli di pollo), 2 per Bacillus cereus (2 prodotti carnei). Inoltre ...
Industrie Alimentari, 2000
The Salmonella spp. represent one of the main causes of food poisoning in the man and, among food... more The Salmonella spp. represent one of the main causes of food poisoning in the man and, among food of alimentary origin, the eggs and their derived products are often mentioned. It's however fairly difficult to isolate Salmonella spp. from these products, either because of the low percentage of eggs contaminated by the irregular excretion of Salmonella spp. from animals that are casual-carriers, or because of not sufficient size of samples. This work points out how the Salmonella spp. matter is still present and hard to solve. The monitoring of health-sanitary conditions of the production processes represents a means of repression against the diffusion of this microorganism among the animals and from these to the man.
Italian Journal of Food Safety
This preliminary study aimed to detect biological and chemical contaminants in vegetables sold in... more This preliminary study aimed to detect biological and chemical contaminants in vegetables sold in Sicily for human consumption, assess the spread of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) strains in these foods, and characterize their antimicrobial-resistance genes. A total of 29 fresh and ready-to-eat samples were analyzed. Microbiological analyses were performed for the detection of Salmonella spp. and the enumeration of Enterococci, Enterobacteriaceae, and Escherichia coli. Antimicrobial resistance was assessed by the Kirby-Bauer method, according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. Pesticides were detected by high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. No samples were contaminated by Salmonella spp., E. coli was detected in 1 sample of fresh lettuce at a low bacterial count (2 log cfu/g). 17.24% of vegetables were contaminated by Enterococci and 65.5% by Enterobacteriaceae (bacterial counts between 1.56 log cfu/...
In the last years, the microbial characterisation of traditional Sicilian cheeses, such as Cacioc... more In the last years, the microbial characterisation of traditional Sicilian cheeses, such as Caciocavallo Palermitano, Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Pecorino Siciliano and PDO Vastedda della valle del Belìce have been the object of different studies conducted by our research group. To this purpose, the aim of the present study was to describe the microbial population of traditional Sicilian cheeses.
This work was carried out to pursue a double objective: to improve the hygienic safety of cheeses... more This work was carried out to pursue a double objective: to improve the hygienic safety of cheeses produced from raw ewes\u2019 milk; and to produce a new typology of cheese through the application of \u201cGrana\u201d technology. With this in mind, raw milk from an individual farm was transformed under controlled condition at a pilot dairy plant. The production technology included the partial skimming of the evening and morning milk mixture by cream surfacing, the addition of a natural whey starter cultures (NWSC) prepared with four selected Streptococcus thermophilus strains (PON6, PON244, PON261 e PON413) isolated from raw ewes\u2019 cheese productions (Gaglio et al., 2014), milk clotting at 38\ub0C, curd cooking at 56\ub0C, cheese moulding at room temperature, immersion salting and ripening for 9 months. In this study, 10 microbial groups were investigated from raw milk until ripened cheeses. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were in the range 104 - 105 CFU/ml before NWSC addition. After curdling, these bacteria increased to 3 Log cycles and were counted at 106 CFU/ml after curd cooking. A rapid pH drop (to 6.05) was registered after almost 3 h from NWSC addition. The levels of members of the Enterobacteriaceae family were at about 103 CFU/ml in raw milk and decreased after curd cooking to 1 Log cycle. A similar behavior was shown by the other undesired microbial group till the complete disappearance of staphylococci. The microbiological counts of 9-month ripened cheeses showed the dominance of LAB and undetectable levels of undesired bacteria. Next Generation Sequence analyses are in progress to evaluate the total microbial composition of the final cheeses. On the basis of the results, the main hypothesis of the work was accepted since the undesired microbial groups were reduced in number in comparison with uncooked hard pressed technology
Food Control, 2020
This paper reports the results of a study carried out to verify the applicability of the EN 1787 ... more This paper reports the results of a study carried out to verify the applicability of the EN 1787 method, which uses the Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) technique for the identification of irradiated plant-origin foods with health benefits. The method was tested on samples of herbal ingredients of Plant Food Supplements (PFSs), nuts and fresh blueberries. Untreated and irradiated samples of Camellia sinensis (leaves) Ginkgo biloba (leaves), Glycine max (seeds), Silybum marianum (fruits), Vaccinium myrtillus (fruits), almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pistachios, walnuts and fresh blueberries were analysed. The work includes an inter-laboratory blind test involving five Italian laboratories that perform routine analyses for the official control of irradiated food. A total of 180 untreated and irradiated samples of PFS ingredients, nuts and fresh blueberries were analysed. The analyses on the irradiated samples were replicated even a long time after irradiation (up to two years depending on the matrix) to test the reliability of the method throughout the shelf life of the products. The results were matrix-dependent: all the 5 kGy irradiated nuts and the 1 kGy-irradiated blueberries were correctly classified, whereas herbal ingredients showed complex ESR spectra with spurious signals which often prevented the correct classification of the sample.
Journal of Food Quality and Hazards Control, 2020
Background: Consumption of raw cheese may be associated with different diseases. This study aimed... more Background: Consumption of raw cheese may be associated with different diseases. This study aimed to evaluate behavior of four pathogenic bacteria during manufacture and ripening of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Pecorino Siciliano cheese. Methods: The experimental cheese groups were inoculated with pathogenic bacteria, including Escherichia coli O157, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella Enteritidis, and Staphylococcus aureus. The cheese making processes were monitored from milk curdling until 3 months ripened cheeses and the levels of Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) and the four dairy pathogens were evaluated by plate counts. Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) analysis was applied to confirm that the colonies isolated during the several steps of production were the same strains added in milk. Statistical analysis was done using XLStat software. Results: The levels of mesophilic and thermophilic coccus and rod LAB in curd were comparable in bo...
Journal of food protection, 2017
Seven hundred seventy-eight samples of packaged smoked fish (774 smoked salmon and 4 smoked sword... more Seven hundred seventy-eight samples of packaged smoked fish (774 smoked salmon and 4 smoked swordfish) on sale in Italy, from 50 different manufacturers located in 12 European Union countries, were purchased from the Italian market between May and December 2011. The surface temperatures of the samples on sale ranged from 0 to 13°C (3.4 ± 1.5°C, mean ± SD). Six hundred eighty (87.4%) of 778 samples were stored at ≤4°C. One hundred fifty-seven samples (20.2%, 95% confidence interval 17.5 to 23.1%) were contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes , with 26 samples (3.3%, 95% confidence interval 2.3 to 4.8%) at levels >100 CFU/g. The maximum level of contamination was 1.3 ×10(6) CFU/g. The differences in the level of contamination of smoked fish between countries (χ(2) = 91.54, P < 0.05) and manufacturers (χ(2) = 193.22, P < 0.05) were significant. The frequency of detection for products from different manufacturing premises ranged from 0 to 76.9%. Serotyping by serological agglutin...
International Journal of Food Microbiology, 2015
The presence of foodborne pathogens (Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O1... more The presence of foodborne pathogens (Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157:H7, thermotolerant Campylobacter, Yersinia enterocolitica and norovirus) in fresh leafy (FL) and ready-to-eat (RTE) vegetable products, sampled at random on the Italian market, was investigated to evaluate the level of risk to consumers. Nine regional laboratories, representing 18 of the 20 regions of Italy and in which 97.7% of the country&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s population resides, were involved in this study. All laboratories used the same sampling procedures and analytical methods. The vegetable samples were screened using validated real-time PCR (RT-PCR) methods and standardized reference ISO culturing methods. The results show that 3.7% of 1372 fresh leafy vegetable products and 1.8% of 1160 &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;fresh-cut&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; or &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;ready-to-eat&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; (RTE) vegetable retailed in supermarkets or farm markets, were contaminated with one or more foodborne pathogens harmful to human health.
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Papers by Cinzia Cardamone