• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.109-117
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• 2024

This study investigated the microbial contamination of agricultural, livestock, and marine ingredients in 55 meal kits distributed across Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Of the 55 meal kits, 48 contained agricultural ingredients, 43 contained livestock ingredients, and 16 contained marine ingredients. The detection rate of the total aerobic bacteria in the agricultural, livestock, and marine products was 100%. The average numbers of the total aerobic bacteria were 6.57 log colony-forming units (CFU)/g in the agricultural products, 4.60 log CFU/g in the livestock products, and 5.47 log CFU/g in the marine products. The coliform detection rates in the agricultural, livestock, and marine products were 81.25%, 69.77%, and 43.75%, respectively. The average numbers of coliforms were 2.83 log CFU/g in the agricultural products, 1.34 log CFU/g in the livestock products, and 1.12 log CFU/g in the marine products. Escherichia coli was detected in 13 livestock products (30.23%), with levels ranging from 0.70 to 2.36 log CFU/g. Contrastingly, E. coli was detected in only one marine product (6.25%) and was not detected in any agricultural products. The detection rates of fungi in agricultural, livestock, and marine products were 97.92%, 93.02%, and 93.75%, respectively. The average numbers of fungi were 3.82 log CFU/g for the agricultural products, 2.92 log CFU/g for the livestock products, and 2.82 log CFU/g for the marine products. The isolation rates of foodborne pathogens from the agricultural, livestock, and marine products were 35.42%, 37.21%, and 31.25%, respectively. Forty-five foodborne pathogens of seven species, including Bacillus cereus and Salmonella spp., were isolated from the raw materials of the agricultural, livestock, and marine products in 55 meal kits. To prevent foodborne diseases caused by meal kits, it is necessary to focus on washing, heating, and preventing cross-contamination during cooking.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.301-305
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• 2016

This study was conducted to investigate changes in pH, volatile basic nitrogen (VBN), thiobarbituric acid (TBA), $a^*$ (redness), shearing force, and microbial content (total plate count; TPC) in beef during freezing storage at -1, -5, and $-20^{\circ}C$ for 21 days. TPC as an effective quality indicator was used to identify the decay point by regression analysis. The pH, TBA values, and TPC significantly increased with storage at all tested temperatures (p<0.05). VBN significantly increased and shearing force significantly decreased with storage at -1 and $-5^{\circ}C$ (p<0.05). TPC showed significant correlation with temperature at $-1^{\circ}C\;(R^2=0.891)$, $-5^{\circ}C\;(R^2=0.856)$, and $-20^{\circ}C\;(R^2=0.444)$. The decay points at -1, -5, and $-20^{\circ}C$, were 27, 52, and 84 days, respectively. The results suggest that a freezing temperature of $-5^{\circ}C$ is effective for short-term storage of beef.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.40-47
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• 2016

This study was conducted to evaluate the possible utility of 3 Aspergillus oryzae strains (designated as SCF-6, SCF-37, and JJSH-1), isolated from Korean traditional fermented materials, as starter cultures in the soybean paste industry. Doenjang (fermented soybean paste) was made with the A. oryzae strains described above, and its quality attributes were analyzed during a 60-day aging period. No significant differences in pH, moisture, or salt content were detected among the doenjang varieties made with the 3 Aspergillus strains. The concentration of amino-nitrogen, an indicator of doenjang aging, increased in each sample during the aging period. After the 60-day aging period, the contents of amino-nitrogen and free amino acid in doenjang made with SCF-6 showed the highest concentrations among the tested doenjang products: 971.6 and 8,064.9 mg%, respectively. Measurements of the color of doenjang showed that lightness and yellowness decreased during the aging period, but redness increased. After the 60-day aging period, the ${\gamma}$-aminobutyric-n-acid (GABA) concentrations in doenjang made with SCF-6 and SCF-37 were 61.3 and 53.7 mg%, respectively. In doenjang samples, aflatoxin was not detected and the concentrations of biogenic amines (histamine and tyramine) were 2.55-5.60 mg/kg and 3.70-5.87 mg/kg, respectively. These results indicated that A. oryzae SCF-6 isolated from traditional fermented foods could be useful as a starter culture in the soybean paste industry.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.81-87
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• 2006

The industrial systems contain many sites and components susceptible to biofilms formation. Biofilms play an important role in microbial growth and industrial fouling. Thus, the control of the biofilms in industrial systems has been emphasized, however, the efficient controlling method was not provided yet. Since silver compounds have no residual and corrosion problem, the interest for silver compounds as a biofilm control disinfectant has been increased. In this study, we attempted to examine the disinfection ability of silver compounds. The disinfection efficiency of two silver compounds(silver ion and silver oxide) were evaluated for biofilms in comparison with suspended cells using well known indicator microorganisms(E. coli, P. aeruginosa) and compared with that of chlorine. Silver compounds were found to be effective in inactivating E. coli and P. aeruginosa biofilms. The reason for superiority of silver compounds as biofilm disinfectant was suggested by that silver can penetrate into the inner biofilm matrix faster than chlorine without consumption. This study reports that the disinfectant which is highly effective in inactivating the suspended cells in water becomes the less effective for controlling biofilm because of its high reactivity. This results imply that the effective strategy for biofilm control can be achieved by considering thoroughly the chemical nature of disinfects and biofilm structure and the reactivity between them.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.624-631
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• 1996

Effect of fluctuation range and intervals of defrosting temperature on quality of frozen foods stored in a domestic refrigerator equipped with an automatic defrost system was evaluated. As defrost system was operated, temperatures of domestic refrigerators were elevated from $-18^{\circ}C\;to\;-5^{\circ}C\;and\;-15^{\circ}C$, and fluctuation intervals were l6 hrs and 30 hrs, respectively. Quality deterioration such as protein denaturation, vitamin loss, exudate production and changes in appearance of frozen foods was minimized by reducing temperature oscillation during storage. Considerable effects of thermal oscillation on ice crystal sizes were observed for frozen beef tissue and ice cream. TTI (time temperature indicator) system also proved that the temperature control of defrost system in domestic refrigerator can improve the quality of foods during storage.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.35 no.12
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• pp.861-866
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to investigate the biodegradation of dissolved organic matter derived from animal carcass disposal soil using soil inhabited bacteria and to identify the bacteria involved in the biodegradation. The two soils were obtained from the animal carcass burial sites located in Anseong, Gyeonggi-do, Korea. The results indicated that during the biodegradation experiments (56 days), 48% of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was mineralized within 13 days in soil-derived solution 1 (initial DOC = 19.88 mgC/L), and the DOC concentration at 56 days was $8.8{\pm}0.4$ mg C/L, indicating 56% mineralization of DOC. In soil-derived solution 2 (initial DOC = 19.80 mgC/L), DOC was mineralized drastically within 13 days, and the DOC concentration was decreased to $6.0{\pm}0.4$ mg C/L at 56 days (76% mineralization of DOC). Unlike DOC value, the specific UV absorbance ($SUVA_{254}$) value, an indicator of proportion of aromatic structures in total organic carbon, tended to increase until 21 days and then decreased thereafter. The $SUVA_{254}$ values in soil-derived solutions 1 and 2 were the highest at 21 days. The microbial analysis demonstrated that Pseudomonas fluorescens, Achromobacter xylosoxidans, Nocardioides simplex, Pseudomonas mandelii, Bosea sp. were detected at 14 days of incubation, whereas Pseudomonas veronii appeared as a dominant species at 56 days.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 1998

The characteristics of Kimchi, associated with proceeding velocity of fermentation, and microbial changes, were investigated during fermentation where kimchi were prepared by the addition of different kinds of minor ingredients. In all samples, total acidity increased, and the pH and total reducing sugar content decreased as the fermentation proceeded. Redox potentials decreased from early to middle fermentation period but thereafter increased and had the lowest value at optimum ripening stage. The counts of total viable and lactic acid bacteria increased rapidly at the begining and decreased slowly. These bacterial counts of kimchi samples containing ginger, red pepper powder, and mixture of all minor ingredients were higher than those of other samples. The number of Leuconostoc mensenteroides reached the maximum at the optimum fermenting stage, Lactobacillus plantarum appeared at the time when Leu. mesenteroides reduced. All these phenomena were observed earlier in the samples containing raw red pepper and later in the samples added garlic than in other samples. It is suggested that garlic is the ingredient which improved storage capacity by prolonging fermentation period by lactic acid bacteria beneficial to less acidification, and ginger and red pepper powder are materials which gave better taste to kimchi by stimulating the growth of Leu. mesenteroids. And redox potential was an useful indicator in choosing optimum ripening time during fermentation.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.595-602
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• 2021

Human intestinal microbiota play an important role in the regulation of the host's metabolism. There is a close pathological and physiological interaction between dysbiosis of the intestinal microflora and obesity and metabolic syndrome. Akkermansia muciniphila, which was recently isolated from human feces, accounts for about 1-4% of the intestinal microbiota population. The use of A. muciniphila- derived external membrane protein Amuc_1100 and extracellular vesicles (EVs) could be a new strategy for the treatment of obesity. A. muciniphila is considered a next-generation probiotic (NGP) for the treatment of metabolic disorders, such as obesity. Faecalibacterium prausnitzii accounts for about 5% of the intestinal microbiota population in healthy adults and is an indicator of gut health. F. prausnitzii is a butyrate-producing bacterium, with anti-inflammatory effects, and is considered an NGP for the treatment of immune diseases and diabetes. Postbiotics are complex mixtures of metabolites contained in the cell supernatant secreted by probiotics. Parabiotics are microbial cells in which probiotics are inactivated. Paraprobiotics and postbiotics have many advantages over probiotics, such as clear chemical structures, safe dose parameters, and a long shelf life. Thus, they have the potential to replace probiotics. The most natural strategy to restore the imbalance of the intestinal ecosystem normally is to use NGPs among commensal bacteria in the gut. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new foods or drugs such as parabiotics and postbiotics using NGPs.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.198-205
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• 2008

In this study, microbial investigation is accomplished for 554 Jeot-kal samples(102 of Jeot-kal, 448 of Seasoned Jeot-kal and 4 of Sik-khe, respectively) that corresponds with Coliform-bacteria, Escherichia coli, Aerobic live bacteria as hygienic indicator microorganisms, and Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus as Food-borne pathogenic microorganisms, Based on the methods in Korea Food Code, reliable data are obtained as follows; in 31.9% rate of the samples, Coliform bacteria are verified in the extent of $0{\sim}20,000$ CFU/g as 2.3 logCFU/g. Especially, Seasoned Jeot-kal(37.7%,2.3 logCFU/g) are detected to 6 and 2 folds higher than those of Jeot-kal, 5.9% and 1.4 logCFU/g. Likewise, Escherichia coli is detected from 9 samples only in Seasoned Jeot-kal, that includes seasoned squid, seasoned octopus, seasoned roe of pollack, seasoned large-eyed herring and seasoned hairtail. Aerobic live bacteria are also detected in the range of $0{\sim}8.9{\times}10^8CFU/g$. Against salinity, E. coli are detected in samples only less than 10% salinity. Concomitantly, aerobic live bacteria count is decreased to $5.5{\sim}3.6$ log CFU/g upon the salinity is increased up to 25%. However, S. aureus and V. parahaemolyticus are not detected in 554 samples, presumptively referring Jeot-kal products are somehow free from such food-borne pathogens. As the results above, we deliberately consider that the sanitary control in Jeot-kal, which be necessarily fermented- as well as non-microbially inactivated should be ensured in near future and also suggest an effectual microbial standard corresponding to the Negativity in E. coli for Jeot-kal products.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.128-136
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• 2006

This study was conducted for developing the stability parameter in uncontrolled landfill by using a biomolecular investigation on the microbial community growing through leachate plume. Landfill J(which is in Cheonan) and landfill T(which is in Wonju) were chosen for this study among a total of 244 closed uncontrolled landfills. It addressed the genetic diversity of the microbial community in the leachate by 165 rDNA gene cloning using PCR and compared quantitative analysis of denitrifiers and methanotrophs with the conventional water quality parameters. From the BLAST search, genes of 47.6% in landfill J, and 32.5% in landfill T, respectively, showed more than 97% of the similarity where Proteobacteria phylum was most significantly observed. It showed that the numbers of denitrification genes, i.e. nirS gene and cnorB gene in the J site are 7 and 4 times higher than those in T site, which is well reflecting from a difference of site closure showing 7 and 13 years after being closed, respectively. In addition, the quantitative analysis on methane formation gene showed that J1 spot immediately bordering with the sources has the greatest number of methane formation bacteria, and it was decreased rapidly according to distribute toward the outer boundary of landfill. The comparative investigation between the number of genes, i.e. nirS gene, cnorB gene and MCR gene, md the conventional monitoring parameters, i.e. TOC, $NH_3-N,\;NO_3-N,\;NO_2-N,\;Cl^-$, alkalinity, addressed that more than 99% of the correlation was observed except for the $NO_3-N$. It was concluded that biomolecular investigation was well consistent with the conventional monitoring parameters to interpret their influences and stability made by leachate plume formed in downgradient around the uncontrolled sites.