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Background and Objectives Falafel is one of the most popular artisanal foods in Iran, especially in Khouzestan province. However, no comprehensive study has been performed to evaluate its microbiological and chemical properties. This study aims to evaluate microbiological and chemical properties of falafel samples collected from street food market in Ahvaz, Iran. Subjects and Methods Microbiological tests including total viable count (TVC), psychrophilic count, Escherichia coli test, staphylococcus aureus test, coliform count, bacillus cereus test, Salmonella test, and mold count were performed to evaluate microbiological properties of falafel samples (cooked and uncooked). The chemical properties were assessed by performing protein test, ash, carbohydrate, lipid, salt, peroxide, and acidity tests. All tests were done according to the methods described by the Institute of Standards & Industrial Research of Iran (ISIRI). Results Microbiological tests revealed that TVC (108 cfu/g), coliform count (3.7×10³ cfu/g) and mold count (1.3×107#179; cfu/g) were significantly higher than the amounts set by the ISIRI (P<0.05), indicating high contamination of uncooked falafel samples. The major problems observed by chemical tests was the high content of lipid (20.11%) and peroxide value (47.85 meq/kg) which were significantly higher than the values set by the ISIRI (P<0.05). Conclusion Microbiological and chemical properties of falafel are poor, indicating the poor hygienic conditions of its preparation in street food market. We recommend more attention to and supervision on the preparation of artisanal foods such as falafel in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Honey is one of the most valuable food products, which, in addition to its nutritional value, also has therapeutic properties. In our study, the physicochemical (Brix, viscosity, free acid content, pH, moisture, diastase activity, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), proline content, sugars content, and reducing sugars content) and microbial (mold and yeast content) characteristics and 15 element contents (As, Cd, K, Al, Pb, Hg, Ba, Ni, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, and Se) of the samples were evaluated. Among the essential elements, the maximum mean was related to K (630 ± 50.8 mg/kg), and the minimum mean was related to Se that was lower than the limit of detection. Also, among all toxic elements, the maximum mean was related to Ni (234 ± 54.7 µg/kg), and the minimum mean was related to Hg that was lower than the limit of detection. Furthermore, the mean of free acidity, pH, °Brix, moisture, diastase content, HMF, and proline content was 35.4 ± 1.27 meq/kg, 4.61 ± 0.21, 82.2 ± 3.08, 16.3 ± 0.33%, 9.10 ± 1.14 DN, 21.1 ± 2.65 mg/kg, and 482 ± 18.1 mg/kg, respectively. Also, the mean percentage of fructose, glucose, and sucrose was 32.4 ± 1.07% (27.5-40.0%), 27.2 ± 0.85% (23.5-31.7%), and 2.28 ± 0.70% (0.72-4.11%), respectively. Finally, the mean of mold and yeast in all samples was 14.2 ± 0.37 CFU/g. Also, the principal component analysis and heat map allowed us to determine a more accurate distinction between the physicochemical characteristics of bee honey. The results of our findings showed that in most cases, the results obtained were within the standard range, which indicates the good quality of Iranian honeys., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)