Επιστημονικά άρθρα

ABSTRACT: This study evaluates the U.S. role in world production and trade of pistachios and identifies major factors affecting export demand for U.S. pistachios. We incorporate 21 major markets accounting for 78 percent of total U.S. pistachio exports. The impacts of market conditions and the effects of food safety shocks are investigated. The results indicate U.S. pistachio producers should take advantage of their advanced technology and reputation for higher food safety stand-ards to enhance international market share.

ABSTRACT: Pistachio fruit components, including hulls (mesocarps and epicarps), seed coats (testas), and kernels (seeds), all contribute to variable aflatoxin content in pistachios. Fresh pistachio kernels were individually inoculated with Aspergillus flavus and incubated 7 or 10 days. Hulled, shelled kernels were either left intact or wounded prior to inoculation. Wounded kernels, with or without the seed coat, were readily colonized by A. flavus and after 10 days of incubation contained 37 times more aflatoxin than similarly treated unwounded kernels.

ABSTRACT: The distribution of aflatoxin concentration has been measured by sampling 19 process streams ranging from 1 to 1000 nuts/sample. The 19 streams comprise substantially the entire sorted product of one producer for crop year 1992. Similar results were obtained by another producer for 1993. The fraction of total aflatoxin accounted for by each process stream was computed. It was concluded that 90% of aflatoxin is contained in 4.6% of (low-quality) product; removal of this product would reduce average aflatoxin from 1.2 to 0.12 ng/g for all product sold for human consumption.

ABSTRACT: The occurrence of aflatoxins in dried fruits and nuts was surveyed in this study. One hundred and eighty samples of dried fruits and nuts were purchased from retail shops and local markets of different locations of NWFP and Northern areas of Pakistan. The samples were analyzed for total aflatoxins by immune affinity (IAC) clean-up with liquid chromatography and fluorescence detection.