Multi-mycotoxin exposure and risk assessments for Chinese consumption of nuts and dried fruits

In this study, 15 mycotoxins were detected in 233 nut and dried fruit samples from China. The 15 mycotoxins included aflatoxins （AFs： AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2）, trichothecene toxins （TCs： T-2, ZEA, ENA, ENA1, ENB, ENB1 and BEA）, Alternaria toxins （ATs： TEN, AOH and AME） and ochratoxin A （OTA）. The mycotoxins were detected in 47.6% of the samples and all 15 of the mycotoxins were found. Two samples were positive for AFB1 and exceeded the maximum tolerable levels allowed in China. The contamination levels of the mycotoxins found in nuts, dried jujubes, raisins, dried figs and dried Iongans were in the ranges of 0.1-462.7, 0.2-247.3, 0.8-10.1,0.2-384.1 and 0.1-89.2 μg kg^-1, respectively. Dried figs （80.0%） had the highest incidence of mycotoxins, followed by dried Iongans （60.0%）, dried jujubes （57.1%）, nuts （43.6%） and raisins （26.7%）. The estimated daily intake （EDI） values of each individual mycotoxin and all of the mycotoxins collectively were calculated by both the deterministic approach （DA） and the probability approach （PA）. For risk characterization, dietary exposure to TCs, ATs and OTA through consumption of nuts and dried fruits according to both approaches, showed no health risk to Chinese adults by exposure to either individual mycotoxins or in combination. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work in which risk assessment of multimycotoxins is performed, specifically including the emerging ENNs and BEA, in nuts and dried fruits of China.

In-vitro and In-vivo Anti-trypanosomal Activity of Terminalia chebula Retz Dried Fruits

African trypanosomosis had caused lots of havocs to both humans and animals over a century with successes and failure in curtailing it. This study was aimed at screening medicinal plant, Terminalia chebula dried fruits against Trypanosoma evansi for trypanocidal activity. Twenty grams of powdered Terminalia chebula dried fruits was cold extracted with methanol. Obtained MPE （methanolic plant extract） was in vitro tested against Trypanosoma brucei （1 × 10^6 trypanosomes/mL of the medium in each ELISA plate wells） at concentrations （250～1,000 μg/mL） on Vero cells grown in DMEM （Debecco＇s Modified Eagle Medium） in appropriate conditions for trypanocidal activity. In-vitro cytotoxicity test of MPE of Terminalia chebula was conducted on Vero cells grown in DMEM. In-vivo assay for trypanocidal activity, each mouse was inoculated with 1 × 10^4/mL of trypanosomes and treated （48 h post inoculation） with MPE of Terminalia chebula at concentrations （12.5, 25, 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight） were administered at dose rate of 100 BL per mouse via intraperitoneal route to different groups of mice, 6 mice per concentration. In-vitro cytotoxicity test was done on Veto cells at concentrations （1.58～100 μg/mL） of MPE of Terminalia chebula. Results of in-vitro trypanocidal activity varied from immobilization, reduction and to the killing of the trypanosomes. At 250 μg/mL ofMPE ofTerminalia chebula dried fruits, there was significant trypanocidal activity at 4 h of incubation and trypanosomes were not detected in corresponding ELISA plate wells at 5 h of incubation, which was statistically equivalent to reference drug, diminazine aceturate （50 μL/mL） at 4 h of incubation. Results of in-vivo trypanocidal activity revealed that at concentrations （l 2.5～25 mg/kg body weight） of MPE of Terrninalia chebula, mice in these groups survived for 6 days. While at 50 and 100 to 200 mg/kg body weight, mice in these groups survived up to 7 and 8 days, respectively. In-vitro cytotoxicity test showed that all concentrations of MPE of Terminalia chenula and diminazine aceturate were cytotoxic to cells except at 1.56 μL/mL and 6.25 μL/mL. In conclusion, MPE of Terminalia chebula dried fruits possessed trypanocidal compounds. Further study （bioassay-guided purification） is required to know the full potential of Terrninalia chebula as future trypanocide candidate.

Analysis of Marketing Margins, Dry Garden Products in Iran

Agricultural sector is one of the economic sectors that always had a considerable impact on the country＇s export. The garden between products and facilities due to capacity and the relative advantage in the production always plays an important role in the non-oil export. The aim of these studies of economic issues, is to analyze the major marketing dried fruit （pistachio, almond rock, walnuts, and walnut） in Fars province. In this study, information and statistics needed were collected through interviews with experts and Agriculture Organization of Fats province. For this purpose the method used in this study is commonly used in economic texts and retail margins and wholesale agents and share marketing costs with the market ratio. The results of this study indicate that factor market costs for pistachio, almonds, walnuts and Mghzgrdv are 30.340, 21.167, 16.794 and 17.061.

Therapeutic Activity of Partially Purified Fractions of Emblica officinalis （Syn, Phyllanthus embfica） Dried Fruits against Trypanosoma evansi

Emblica officinalis （E. oJficinalis） dried fruits were evaluated for its antitrypanosomal activity and cytotoxic effects. Vero cell line maintained in DMEM （Dubecco＇s Modified Eagle Medium） and incubated with Trypanosoma evansi for more than 12 h. MPE was added to the Vero cell culture medium at different concentrations （250-1,000 μg/mL） with trypanosomes concentration （1 × 106 trypanosomes/mL in each ELISA plate well） and incubated at appropriate conditions for 72 h. In-vitro cytotoxieity of MPE of E. officinalis was determined on Vero cells at concentrations （（1.56-100 ~tg/mL）. Acute toxicity and in-vivo infectivity tests were done in mice. Obtained MPE ofE. officinalis underwent process of purification via column chromatography, preparative chromatography and HPLC （higher performance liquid chromatography） with bioassay at different strata on Alsever＇s medium. In-vivo assay for trypanocidal activity, MPE and PPFs （partially purified fractions） of E. officinalis with two sets of mice, each mouse was inoculated with 1 × 104/mL oftrypanosomes and treated （48 h post inoculation） at concentrations （12.5, 25, 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight） were administered at dose rate of 100 [tL per mouse via intraperitoneal route （in treating parassitemic mice） to different groups of mice, 6 mice per concentration. HPLC of partially purified fractions ofE. officinalis was carried out with mobile phase ofacetonitdle： water （40：60） in gradient mode. In vitro, MPE induced immobilization and killing of the parasites in concentration-time dependent manner. Significant reduction of trypanosomes counts from concentration of 250μg/mL and complete killing of trypanosomes at 5th hour of observation, which was statistically equivalent to 4th hour of Diminazine Aceturate （Berenil）, standard reference drug used. HPLC of the partially purified fractions revealed two major prominent peaks at retention time of 1-4 min. In vivo, both MPE and PPFs of test material did prolong lives of mice by 6-9 days but could not cure them. At concentration of 2,000 kg/kg body weight of MPE in acute test, all mice survived. For in-vivo infectivity test, mice injected with immobilized trypanosomes developed parasitemia and died while, the other group survived. MPE, PPFs and Diminazine Aceturate were toxic to Vero cells at all concentrations exception of 1.56, 1.56-3.13 and 1.56-6.25 μg/mL, respectively. From this report, PPFs ofE. officinalis dried fruits demonstrated potential pathway for a new development oftrypanocide in near future if additional investigations are put in place.

Osmotic Dehydration of Pineapple Stems in Hypertonic Sucrose Solutions

The present study provides the evaluation in the influence of the variables: temperature (T), concentration of the osmotic solution (C) and ratio of fruit and osmotic solution (F:OS) during the osmotic dehydration of slices of pineapple stem variety Perola, on the responses: water loss (WL), mass loss (ML), gain of solids (GS) and ratio of gain of solids and water loss (GS/WL). The centesimal composition was determined both in the raw material and in the dehydrated product. To optmize the process, the studied factors were: temperature (T), with factorial points -1 equal to 30°C and +1 equal to 50°C;concentration of sucrose solution (C), with factorial points -1 equal to 40 g·100 g-1 and +1 equal to 60 g·100 g-1 and ratio of fruit and osmotic dehydration solution (F:OS), with factorial points -1 and +1 equal to 1:20 and 3:20, respectively. In all essays, the dehydration time was 4 hours. The essays showed that F:OS was not significant in any responses;the models adopted were predictive and fitted for WL and ML, and reasonable for GS and GS/WL. The temperature was the most significant variable in the process;the optimized values were: T= 50°C, C = 40 g 100 g-1 e F:OS = 3:20. The product needs a complementary drying to adapt itself to the legislation demands.