K. Kaan Tekinşen

Aflatoxin M1 levels in UHT milk and kashar cheese consumed in Turkey

In the present study, 100 UHT milk and 132 kashar cheese samples were analyzed for aflatoxin M1 (AFM1). They were obtained from retail outlets in five big cities (Istanbul, Izmir, Konya, Tekirdag, Edirne). The occurrence and concentration range of AFM1 in the samples were investigated by competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Sixty-seven percent of the UHT milk samples and 82.6% of the kashar cheese samples contained AFM1. The positive incidence of AFM1 in the UHT milk samples and the kashar cheese samples ranged from 10 to 630 ng/kg and from 50 to 690 ng/kg, respectively. AFM1 levels in 31 (31%) UHT milk and 36 (27.3%) kashar cheese samples exceeded the maximum tolerable limit of the EC and the TFC. AFM1 levels in the samples show that there is a presence of high aflatoxin level that constitutes a human health risk in Turkey. Therefore milk and dairy products have to be controlled continuously for presence of AFM1 contamination by the Turkish public health authorities.

A comparative study on fatty-acid composition of salep obtained from some Orchidaceae species

0009-3130/11/4606-0943 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 1) Department of Animal Nutrition and Nutritional Disorders, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Selcuk University, 42075 Konya, Turkey, fax: +903322410063, e-mail: ocitil@selcuk.edu.tr; 2) Department of Food Hygiene and Technology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Selcuk University, 42075 Konya, Turkey. Published in Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 6, pp. 804–806, November–December, 2010. Original article submitted June 2, 2009. Chemistry of Natural Compounds, Vol. 46, No. 6, 2011

Survival of Helicobacter pylori in Turkish fermented sucuk and heat-treated sucuk during production.

The aim of this study was to investigate the survival of Helicobacter pylori during production of sucuk (Turkish fermented sausage). The sucuk mixture was inoculated with H. pylori ATCC 43504 to produce a final level in the mixture of ∼5 × 10(6) CFU/g. Samples in group I were fermented and dried traditionally at 22°C for 7 days. Samples in groups II and III were subjected to the traditional fermentation at 22°C for 3 days. After fermentation, group II samples were fermented and dried at 35°C for 4 days and group III samples were treated with heat until the core temperature reached 65°C. On the first day of fermentation, a 1-log reduction in H. pylori was found in all groups. The H. pylori levels in all groups increased by about 1 log CFU/g by the third day of fermentation and reached the inoculation level. On the fifth and seventh days of fermentation, no appreciable change occurred in the level of H. pylori in groups I and II. After heat treatment, the H. pylori levels were below the level of detection. These results suggest that H. pylori can grow during sucuk fermentation and that a heat treatment should be used during sucuk processing to destroy H. pylori.