Assessment of hygienic conditions of ground pepper (Piper nigrum L.) by means of two methodologies for detecting the light filth

The pepper ought to be collected, processed, packed under optimum conditions to avoid the presence of foreign matters. The hygienic conditions of ground pepper marketed in São Paulo city were assessed by means of two methodologies on 22 samples during the period from May to September 2006. For deter...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Atui, Márcia Bittar, Castejón, Márcia Jorge, Yamashiro, Rosemeire, De Lucca, Tatiana, Flinn, Paul W.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2009
País:Brasil
Institución:Instituto Adolfo Lutz
Repositorio:Revista do Instituto Adolfo Lutz (Online)
Idioma:portugués
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.periodicos.saude.sp.gov.br:article/32748
Acceso en línea:https://periodicos.saude.sp.gov.br/RIAL/article/view/32748
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:pepper
ELISA
flotation technique
light filth
pimenta do reino
flutuação
sujidades leves
Descripción
Sumario:The pepper ought to be collected, processed, packed under optimum conditions to avoid the presence of foreign matters. The hygienic conditions of ground pepper marketed in São Paulo city were assessed by means of two methodologies on 22 samples during the period from May to September 2006. For determining the occurrence of light filth the flotation technique was employed following the methodology recommended by AOAC, and the enzyme – linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). It was observed that 100% of the samples contained insect’s fragments and in various samples more than one type of foreign matters were found. Twenty-three percent of samples were unqualified for consumption owing to the occurrence of rodent hair. For performing ELISA, the standard samples containing 1, 2, 4, 8 and 10 insects were included in order to estimate the number of insects in the analyzed samples by means of optical densities (OD) values. Of 22 samples, 36.4% of samples presented OD values close to that corresponding to standard 8 insects, 40.9% samples to standard 4 insects, 18.2% to 10, and 4.5% to standard 2 insects. According to the results observed in the present study, the technique described in the AOAC is more suitable for detecting not only the insects but also the additional filth in analyzed samples, while ELISA is specific to detect myosin from the insect muscle, which undergoes degradation after some time.