Mehran Sayadi

In the present study, the effect of sodium alginate nanoparticles (SANPs) combined with lemon verbena plant leaf essential oil (LVEOs) (concentrations of 0.25%, 0.5%, and 1% w/v) as an edible coating on the chemical and microbial changes of beef thigh meat during refrigerated storage was investigated. The dynamic light scattering (DLS) and zeta sizer analyses of SANPs incorporating LVEOs yielded the following parameters across LVEO concentrations: at 1%, the hydrodynamic diameter (Z‐average) was 32.3 nm with a polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.681 and a zeta potential (ZP) of −39.9 mV; at 0.5%, the Z‐average was 88.6 nm with PDI 0.544 and ZP −30.1 mV; at 0.25%, the Z‐average was 207.7 nm with PDI 0.465 and ZP −21.7 mV. The data indicate an increasing particle size with decreasing LVEO concentration, with all PDIs below 0.7 and progressively less negative surface charge at lower LVEO content, suggesting reduced electrostatic stabilization at lower concentrations. According to scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the nanoparticles displayed a spherical morphology with smooth surfaces. The current investigation attributes spectral variations within 2800–3000 cm ⁻¹ to CH modes associated with monoterpenes, whereas the 1000–1100 cm ⁻¹ bands reflect interactions between the COC moieties of the polysaccharide and compounds present in the essential oil. With increasing essential oil concentrations (0.25%, 0.5%, and 1%), the intensities of several bands—particularly those in the OH and CH regions—became more pronounced. Thigh meat coated with SANPs + LVEOs (1% w/v) had the lowest microbial growth, 7.66 ± 0.06 log CFU/g for aerobic mesophilic (by 5.2‐log reduction compared with control), 6.44 ± 0.07 log CFU/g for coliforms (3.65‐log reduction), 6.76 ± 0.30 log CFU/g for lactic acid bacteria (3.67‐log reduction), and this treatment also had the lowest degree of lipid oxidation (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances or TBARS value) by 69.5% on Day 20 of storage. It also had the highest sensory score in overall acceptability. These results indicate that SANPs + LVEOs (1% w/v) can be used as an edible coating to enhance the shelf life of meat.

Milk and dairy products are an important source of essential nutrients for human health. However, contamination of these foods poses a significant public health concern. In this study, risk assessment of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) exposure associated with the consumption of traditional milk and dairy products in Fasa, Fars Province, Iran, was carried out. A total of 180 samples, comprising raw milk, boiled milk, cheese, yoghurt, as well as Doogh and Kashk, two traditional fermented milk-based products, were collected during two seasons of summer and winter and then analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The findings indicated that 85.55% of all samples were contaminated with AFM1 with the mean concentration of positive samples as 251.15 ± 71.97 ng/kg (1.10–453.50 ng/kg). The results also showed that in 68.88% of tested samples, the toxin concentration exceeded the limit set by the national standard of Iran and the European Union standard. Dietary exposure value calculated for the study population was 0.13 ng/kg BW/day. Based on calculations resulting from risk characterization, hazard index (HI), liver cancer risk (LCR), and margin of exposure (MOE) for AFM1 were 0.67, 7.6 × 10⁻⁴, and 15,291, respectively. For yoghurt consumers, results showed a significant risk for the study population regarding non-carcinogenic and carcinogenicity hazard (HI > 1, LCR > 10⁻⁴, MOE < 10,000). Yoghurt showed the highest contribution rate for AFM1 exposure in various dairy products due to its higher consumption rates, followed by milk. Based on these results, there are needs for rigorous monitoring and control of cattle feeds to decrease the risk of contamination with aflatoxins. Graphical Abstract

In this study, the effect of high‐power bath and horn ultrasound at different powers on specific surface area (S_BET), total pore volume (V_total), and average pore volume (D_ave) of bleaching clay was examined. After subjecting the bleaching clay to ultrasonication treatment, the SBET values demonstrated an escalation from 31.4 ± 2.7 m² g⁻¹ to 59.8 ± 3.1 m² g⁻¹ for HU200BC, 143.8 ± 3.9 m² g⁻¹ for HU400BC, 54.4 ± 3.6 m² g⁻¹ for BU400BC, and 137.5 ± 2.8 m² g⁻¹ for BU800BC. The mean pore diameter (D_ave) declined from 29.7 ± 0.14 nm in bleaching clay to 11.3 ± 0.13 nm in HU200BC, 8.3 ± 0.12 nm in HU400BC, 16.7 ± 0.14 nm in BU400BC, and 9.6 ± 0.12 nm in BU800BC. Therefore, horn ultrasound‐treated bleaching clay significantly increased S_BET and V_total, indicating improved adsorption capacity. Moreover, to establish the relationship between bleaching parameters, seven multi‐output ML regression models of Feedforward Neural Network (FNN), Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Regression (SVR), Multi‐Task Lasso, Ridge regression, Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and Gradient Boosting are used, and compared with response surface methodology (RSM). ML has revolutionized the understanding of complex relationships between ultrasonic parameters, oil color, and pigment degradation, providing insights into how various factors such as temperature, ultrasonic power, and time can influence the bleaching process, ultimately enhancing the efficiency and precision of the treatment. The XGBoost model showed outstanding performance in predicting the target variables with a high R²‐train up to 1, R²‐test up to .983, and a minimum mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.498. The lower error between the predicted and experimental values implies the superiority of the XGBoost model to predict outcomes rather than RSM. It represents the suitability of bath ultrasound as a mild condition for low‐pigmented oil bleaching. Finally, the Bayesian optimization method in conjunction with XGBoost was used to optimize the amount of bleaching clay and energy consumption, and its performance was compared with RSM. It was observed that the consumption of bleaching clay was reduced by approximately 60% for sunflower oil and 30%–35% for soybean oil.

The environmental problems of synthetic plastics in food packaging have led researchers to synthesize biodegradable films. In this study, nanocomposite alginate‐based films containing TiO₂ nanoparticles (1%) and cumin essential oil (CEO, 2%) were fabricated and the potential of these films to protect beef from chemical [pH, total volatile base nitrogen (TVBN), peroxide value, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBA)] and microbial [total viable count, Enterobacteriaceae, lactic acid bacteria, Listeria monocytogenes, and Pseudomonas spp.] spoilage was evaluated during 24 days of storage (4°C). The active films significantly induced the reduction in lipid oxidation, microbial growth, and TVBN values, improved the sensory attributes of treated samples, maintained the redness of meats for a longer time, and increased the shelf life of beef from 4 to 16 days. The results of this study showed that TiO₂/CEO alginate‐based nanocomposite film has a great potential for application in meat and meat products.

Malathion (MAL), a kind of organophosphate pesticides (OPs), is one of the oldest phosphoric pesticides, which used for both domestic and commercial agricultural purposes. However, it possesses adverse effects and organ-specific toxicity in relation to the heart, kidney and other vertebrate organs. The exact effects of the short-term toxicity of MAL on lipid peroxidation, antioxidant activity, and pro-inflammatory cytokines is not yet clear enough. We evaluated lipid peroxidation (MDA level), antioxidant activity [superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT)], TNF-alpha, and IL-1 bet in different tissues of MAL-treated Wistar rats, at doses of 50, 100, 200 and 150 mg/kg. After 14 days exposure, CAT and SOD activity, MDA level increased in most tissues. The histopathological results showed that the most sensitive tissues to MAL toxicity were liver, kidney, and heart. Also, in general, increased TNF-alpha measured as inflammatory cytokine compared to untreated rats. IL-1 beta levels showed a dual response to the toxic effects of MAL; increased in testis, kidney and lung tissues and decreased in liver, heart and blood tissues.The present findings reinforce the concept that short-term MAL toxicity can cause tissue damage while enhancing the activity of antioxidant enzymes and reducing cytokine levels.