Assessment of food safety knowledge, attitude, practices of food handlers and microbial contamination in foods at the canteens of a University in Pakistan.

Developing nations are striving to assure food safety that rely mainly upon handling procedures. The current study focused upon the understanding level and practices of food handlers working at various canteens of University of the Punjab, Quid-i-Azam campus, Lahore. Different canteens were selected where 300 different food handlers were judged for their approach towards food safety through a closed ended questionnaire.

Enzymatic, Phyto-, and Physicochemical Evaluation of Apple Juice under High-Pressure Carbon Dioxide and Thermal Processing.

In this study, the changes in enzyme activities, total polyphenols, phenolic profile, and physicochemical properties from thermally (25-75 °C) and high-pressure carbon dioxide (HP-CO) (25-65 °C/20 MPa)-treated apple juice were investigated. The HP-CO exhibited complete inactivation of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) at 65 °C, whereas PPO was still active at 75 °C under thermal processing (TP). Similarly, the relative activity of peroxidase (POD) significantly decreased by 71% at 65 °C under HP-CO processing, whereas TP was less effective.

Isolation and characterization of an endosulfan-degrading strain, Stenotrophomonas sp. LD-6, and its potential in soil bioremediation.

Aerobic bacteria degrading endosulfan were isolated from contaminated sludge. One of the isolates, LD-6, was identified as Stenotrophomonas sp. The bacterium could utilize endosulfan as the sole source of carbon and sulfur.

Biodegradation of the sulfonylurea herbicide chlorimuron-ethyl by the strain Pseudomonas sp. LW3.

The chlorimuron-ethyl-degrading bacterium LW3 was isolated from contaminated soil and identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing as Pseudomonas sp. When chlorimuron-ethyl was provided as the sole nitrogen source, the degradation efficiency in liquid medium was about 81.0% after 7 days of inoculation with strain LW3.