Abstiact: When offered single species of seaweeds in excess amounts, the sea urchin Arbuciapunctulata (Lamarck) Philippi consumed significantly more Gracilana folijr,a (Forsskal) Borgrsen and Codium z3thmocladium Vickers than Sargassum filipendula C. Agardh, Padina vickersiae Hoyt, or Dictyota dichotomu (Hudson) Lamouroux. When all five species were offered to urchins simultaneously, patterns o...

In July-August of 2005-2008, 47 digenean trematodes were examined from 7 specimens of the common sandpiper, Actitis hypoleucos (L., 1758). The digeneans were collected during a study on the food composition of the common sandpiper. The research was conducted near Lisewo Malborskie (near Tczew, Zuławy Wiślane, Gdańsk sea-coast), at a resting site on the birds' migration route. The foods ingested...

Biological toxicity testing is a rapidly expanding field involving numerous bioanalytical techniques. The enzymatic biosensors are valuable screening tools to identify pollutants and/or toxic agents in the environment and/or in food matrices, thus representing a valid alternative to animal testing in analytical toxicology. Inhibition based biosensors here presented have been proved to represent...

The view that food can have an expanded role that goes well beyond providing a source of nutrients truly applies to traditional functional foods. The systematic consumption of such traditional functional food provides an excellent preventive measure to ward off many diseases. Rasam, a soup of spices, is a traditional South Indian food. It is traditionally prepared using tamarind juice as a base...

Staphylococcus aureus represents a public health challenge worldwide. The aim of this study was the characterization of different food isolates of S. aureus on the basis of their production of enterotoxins, hemolysins and resistance to antibiotics. A total of 148 coagulase-positive staphylococcal strains isolated from different food origins were identified to the species level. By multiplex PCR...

Contents of minerals (Mg, Ca, Na and K), anions (SO4(2-), Br- and Cl) and heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Zn, Hg and As) were determined in 17 commercial samples of Nigari, 15 samples of crude magnesium chloride (sea water) products as a food additive and 2 magnesium-containing foods. Obtained values were compared with the specifications proposed in a draft of the eighth edition of Japan's Specifications...

In this study, a high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for simultaneous determination of eight paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins, including saxitoxin (STX), neosaxitoxin (NEO), gonyautoxins (GTX1-4) and the N-sulfo carbamoyl toxins C1 and C2, in sea shellfish. The samples were extracted by acetonitrile/water (80:20, v/v) with ...

Algae are a very large and diverse group of autotrophic organisms which ranges from unicellular to multicellular forms. They are primary producers which is a source of many nutrients and it has high protein content. The most complex marine forms are called seaweeds. Blue green algae ,red algae, green algae assigned higher contents of dietary fibres. Certain beverages are prepared from sea algae...

Food storage is a vital component in the economic and social package that comprises the Neolithic, contributing to plant domestication, increasingly sedentary lifestyles, and new social organizations. Recent excavations at Dhra' near the Dead Sea in Jordan provide strong evidence for sophisticated, purpose-built granaries in a predomestication context approximately 11,300-11,175 cal B.P., which...

There is increasing evidence of the importance of herbivory in seagrass communities, but the factors that regulate seagrass–herbivore interactions remain largely unknown. Many terrestrial plants and marine algae chemically deter herbivores using secondary metabolites, yet their incidence and role on seagrasses have received little attention. Posidonia oceanica, the dominant seagrass in the Medi...