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Traditional foods (TFs) inherit a long history and colorful cultures and are closely bound with the dietary patterns of indigenous people. They are either homemade or commercially made and purchased from local food outlets, which provide distinctive textural and sensory properties, nutritional values, and bioactive functions. However, the science and wisdom of TFs are not thoroughly understood by local people in their historical context. Today's scientific knowledge and technical capabilities provide opportunities for scientists, industries, and consumers to understand the scientific ingenuity behind TFs, which may significantly promote the transition of TFs from homemade to scaled and standardized manufacturing with global availability and acceptance. In addition, the science of TFs may open new vistas for developing modern foods and new lifestyles. This review summarizes and provides insights into the science of TFs, covering food chemistry, food quality, food safety, health function, food processing, and its implications for future food systems. • Modern science revealed the sciences and benefits of TFs. • Scientific knowledge promoted TFs into global availability. • Science of TFs inspired the development of modern foods and new lifestyles. • Advanced methodologies provide new opportunities in TF studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) can form very persistent biofilms on food contact substances, either in monospecies, or in conjunction with background microflora. Although some studies have investigated how bacterial symbiosis facilitates L. monocytogenes survival in complex cocktail biofilms, very little is known about how this core symbiotic relationship is affected by environmental factors. Here, we investigate how L. monocytogenes persistence is affected by symbiosis with Escherichia coli O157:H7, Pseudomonas fluorescens , and Ralstonia insidiosa , and how these relationships are impacted by environmental factors, including food contact surface topography and chemistry, and microbial nutrition. We find that symbiosis can significantly enhance L. monocytogenes persistence in four-species cocktail biofilms (5.71 ± 0.03 Log CFU/cm2) by up to 1.9 Log CFU/cm2 compared to monospecies biofilms (3.81 ± 0.08 Log CFU/cm2). We also report that surface topography and chemistry, microbial nutrition, and symbiont species significantly impact the symbiotic relationships involving L. monocytogenes , revealing the adaptability of bacterial symbiosis to changing environmental conditions and the complex nature of cocktail pathogen biofilms. Antagonistic and synergistic interactions involving pathogens in cocktail biofilms, and factors affecting those interactions, are elucidated and can establish a foundation to study symbiosis and its role in mitigating pathogen persistence in food systems, and helping identify unanticipated increased food safety risks of pathogens due to enhanced persistence. • L. monocytogenes biofilm is affected by symbiosis with background microflora. • Symbiosis in a biofilm is affected by surface, nutrition, and symbiont species. • P. fluorescens shows synergies with L. monocytogenes in biofilm formation. • E. coli O157:H7 and R. insidiosa show changing symbiosis with L. monocytogenes. • Leveraging biofilm symbiosis mitigates synergisms or facilitates antagonisms against pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Battling meat adulteration is essential in preserving both public health and a fair market. This study depicts a method of reducing adulteration in meats, in which Electronic-nose (E-nose) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) were applied to identify adulterants in mutton. Duck meat was selected as a model adulterant due to its lower cost and similarity in flavor to mutton, as well as being frequently adulterated in China. Qualitative and quantitative analysis were conducted using linear regression, fisher linear discriminant analysis (FLDA), and multilayer perceptron neural networks analysis (MLPN) on E-nose signals. Several fingerprint volatile organic chemicals (VOC) were identified by GC-MS to validate the E-nose results. Multivariate partial least square regression (PLS) was carried out to study the relationships between GC-MS and E-nose. The results of GC-MS confirmed that E-nose can be used to identify duck adulteration in mutton, with a minimum detection ratio of 10%. This method proved that rapid detection of mutton adulterated duck meat using E-nose has a high accuracy, which has reduced detecting time and improved detection efficiency. Highlights • E-nose and GC-MS can be used to identify duck adulteration in mutton. • Detection of mutton adulterated duck meat using E-nose has a high accuracy. • E-nose detection was coupled with statistical analysis (MLPN, FLDA, PLS and LDA) for modeling. • E-nose can be used to identify duck adulteration in mutton, with a minimum detection ratio of 10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The increasing demand for safety and quality in food products has stimulated research on developing natural preservatives and their carrier systems as a novel preventive control strategy. In this study, metal-organic framework (MOF) was investigated, for the first time, as a carrier for volatile antimicrobial essential oils. Zinc metal-organic framework (Zn@MOF) was synthesized with zinc nitrate hexahydrate and 2-aminoterephthalic acid in N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF). Thymol was then loaded into the Zn@MOF at a loading rate of 3.96% as measured by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The crystal structure of porous MOF was confirmed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Antibacterial activity of thymol loaded Zn@MOF (T-Zn@MOF) with active thymol loading of 0.029 g/100 g was assessed against a three-strain cocktail of E. coli O157:H7 in a tryptic soy broth (TSB). E. coli O157:H7 growth in T-Zn@MOF exhibited growth inhibition without an exponential growth phase after 24 h of incubation, which could be attributed to the sustained release of thymol by incorporating it in the porous Zn@MOF through noncovalent interactions. This research demonstrates that Zn@MOF loaded with the essential oil thymol is an effective antimicrobial and may have potential indirect applications in food. Highlights • Metal-organic framework (MOF) was investigated for food safety application. • Antimicrobial essential oil, thymol, was selected as a model bioactive substance. • Zn@MOF was synthesized and characterized with a thymol loading at 3.96%. • Thymol loaded MOF showed promising antimicrobial activity against E. coli O157:H7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) biofilm formation on food-contact surfaces is a significant food safety concern. However, research on the ability of contact surfaces to resist fouling by L. monocytogenes biofilm is limited. With the objective of assessing the combined effects of substrate topography and coating composition on L. monocytogenes biofilm formation, we used stainless steel 304 with three surface topographies (native finish, #4 commercial brushed finish, and native finish with microfabricated pillars developed by a new process), in each case either uncoated or coated with one of five FDA-approved food-contact substances (chromium nitride, titanium nitride, Dursan, Ni–P-polytetrafluoroethylene (Ni–P-PTFE), and Lectrofluor 641). Results indicate that surface topography and composition significantly affected fouling resistance. Significant enhancement of resistance to L. monocytogenes fouling was observed on native finish coated by Ni–P-PTFE, which reduced L. monocytogenes by 1.5 Log CFU/cm2. Coating the brushed finish with Ni–P-PTFE, Lectrofluor 641, or Dursan reduced L. monocytogenes fouling by 0.5, 0.4, and 0.9 Log CFU/cm2, respectively. The greatest reductions in L. monocytogenes biofilm formation were obtained with Dursan coated on the native finish (3.4 Log CFU/cm2) and on the micropillar-modified native finish (2.8 Log CFU/cm2). The combined variation of substrate topography modification and coating composition provides a new approach to enhance fouling resistance of stainless steel against L. monocytogenes biofilm for improved sanitary design of food processing equipment. • Nonfouling enhancement of stainless steel against Listeria monocytogenes biofilm. • Combination of topography modification and food contact substances (FCS) coating. • Dursan coating demonstrates the strikingly good fouling-resistant effect. • The new strategy can be applied for improved food processing equipment design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retail display of highly perishable foods behind glass doors ensures uniform product temperatures below the FDA Food Code threshold of 5 °C, resulting in better-preserved foods while reducing energy costs. However, only a handful of studies have evaluated the effect of repeated door openings on product temperatures and energy consumption with contrasting reports. In this paper, we evaluated the effects of two frequencies (doors opened every 5 or 15 min) and four durations (doors held ajar for 5, 15, 30 or 60 s) on product simulator temperatures in a display case installed in our research supermarket. At ambient conditions (19.6–20.9 °C, 63% RH), with a case thermostat setting of 0.6 °C and a daily 30-min defrost cycle, the only statistically significant fluctuation in product simulator temperatures was found for the most aggressive opening schedule where the door was opened every 5 min for 60 s at each opening. Pairwise comparisons demonstrated that this treatment resulted in product simulator temperatures (up to 6.6 °C during defrost cycle) that were significantly higher (p < 0.001) or somewhat significantly higher (p < 0.03) compared to product exposed to all other combinations. Product exposed to all other treatment combination resulted in temperatures that either never exceeded 5 °C or briefly exceeded it only during the single 30-min defrost cycle. As a result, we selected an average opening sequence (every 10 min for 12 s) to perform an energy consumption assessment of the case. Energy consumption was determined to be 66% lower than that compared to an open-retail display case (same model, mark, size, operating schedule and thermostat setting). Even with the most extreme schedule where three of the six doors remained open continuously, there was still a measured 45% reduction in energy consumption as compared to that of the open-retail display case. • Enclosed refrigerated display cases support compliance with US Food Code. • Typical door opening regimes do not impact product temperature uniformity in display cases. • Typical door opening regimes still provide significant energy savings compared to an open display case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]