CBQF - Contribuições em Revistas Científicas / Contribution to Journals
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- Are fermented foods safe for human health? A systematic analysis of the literaturePublication . Assunção, Ricardo; Angelovski, Ljupco; Ciesarová, Zuzana; Russo, Pasquale; Salvetti, Elisa; Sarand, Inga; Silva, Beatriz Nunes; Torbica, Aleksandra M.; Zakrzewski, Arkadiusz; Berkel Kasikci, Müzeyyen; Guzel, Mustafa; Issa, Aline; Chassard, Christophe; Praćer, Smilja; Vergères, Guy; Laranjo, MartaBackground – Fermented foods (FF) are widely consumed across different dietary cultures and are increasingly recognized for their nutritional and functional properties. Although fermentation can improve food preservation and safety, there are still concerns about microbiological and chemical hazards. Given the growing consumption of FF, it is essential to conduct a systematic evaluation of their safety to support evidence-based risk-benefit assessments. Objectives – This review aimed to establish the safety of FF for human consumption and to identify the main microbiological and chemical hazards associated with these foods, including their occurrence, exposure and potential risks. Design – A systematic scoping review was conducted in accordance with a predefined protocol aligned with PRISMA principles. Relevant human studies were identified through searches of the PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane Library databases. The eligibility criteria were defined using a PECO framework and included all population groups and a broad range of FF across major food categories. Alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content above 1.25% were excluded. The outcomes included the occurrence of hazards, associated exposure and risk, and reported foodborne outbreaks. Results – Microbiological hazards were predominantly associated with pathogens such as Salmonella, pathogenic Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter jejuni, and Clostridium botulinum, with dairy and fermented meat products most frequently implicated in outbreaks. However, these risks were largely linked to contaminated raw materials, inadequate processing conditions, or post-process contamination rather than fermentation itself. Chemical hazards included mycotoxins, heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and acrylamide. Most available risk metrics indicated low concern under typical consumption scenarios, although certain products, such as specific cheeses and cereal-based foods, showed higher exposure levels. Importantly, several chemical hazards were associated with raw material contamination or thermal processing rather than the fermentation process. Conclusion – Overall, the identified risks associated with FF are predominantly driven by contaminated raw materials, inadequate processing practices, and environmental factors, rather than by fermentation itself, supporting the safe integration of FF into modern diets when appropriate hygienic and technological conditions are ensured. These findings emphasize the importance of targeted risk management strategies focused on raw material quality, process control and harmonized risk assessment approaches.
- Editorial: biofilms in aquatic environments and new strategies for microbial biofilm controlPublication . Antunes, Jorge T.; Gomes, Inês Bezerra; Proia, Lorenzo
- Customized pH-responsive poly(urethane)-based formulations treating chronic skin wound inflammation and promoting tissue regenerationPublication . Laurano, Rossella; Ribeiro, Viviana Pinto; Oliveira, Cláudia S.; Torrisi, Alessandro; Ligas, Alessandro; Boffito, Monica; Tavaria, Freni K.; Oliveira, Ana Leite; Ciardelli, GianlucaSevere inflammation and infections are major contributors to wound chronicity. Although various wound dressings have been engineered to deliver therapeutics locally, the lack of patient personalization is still a limiting factor. In this endeavor, this work aims to establish an adaptable therapeutic strategy by combining stimuli-responsive materials and 3D bioprinting for the prospective fabrication of shape-personalized patches capable of tuning payload release in response to the alkalinity of infected wound exudates. First, a –COOH-bearing amphiphilic poly(ether urethane) was synthesized and used to formulate thermo-/alkaline-pH-responsive hydrogels, while human recombinant lactoferrin (hrLF) was selected for its naturally derived therapeutic properties. Then, the hrLF-loaded hydrogel thermo-responsiveness was rheologically assessed, while the hrLF suitability for the biologically aggressive environment of chronic wounds was evaluated through UV/Vis spectroscopy and a colorimetric assay. Moreover, a finely tuned drug release was observed in response to pH via a non-Fickian diffusion mechanism. Furthermore, in in vitro studies on simplified inflamed wounds, hrLF promoted human dermal fibroblast proliferation (increased DNA content), exerted anti-inflammatory effects (reduced expression of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6), and exhibited bacteriostatic activity against Staphylococcus aureus. Finally, the hrLF-loaded hydrogel showed promising processability as a biomaterial ink. Overall, the engineered system showed strong adaptation to the dynamic wound environment.
- Comparative physicochemical, structural, thermal, and rheological analyses of lemon by-product pectin: hot acid-assisted extraction coupled with drying techniquesPublication . Magalhães, Daniela; Rodrigues, Cristina V.; Sousa, Sérgio; Costa, Joana R.; Teixeira, Paula; Pintado, ManuelaPectin is a naturally occurring biopolymer extensively used for applications in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and food industries, and is abundantly present in lemon by-products. Although lemon peels represent a highly promising raw material, the structure of pectin is strongly influenced by extraction and drying processes, and the resulting attributes remain insufficiently understood. The present study systematically investigates the impact of conventional hot acid extraction using three different acidifying agents (citric, sulphuric, and hydrochloric) in combination with two drying techniques (oven-drying and freeze-drying) on the physicochemical, structural, thermal, and viscosity–shear rate properties of pectin obtained from lemon by-products (Citrus limon, Portuguese Eureka variety) following the prior recovery of bioactive compounds (essential oils and phenolic compounds). The results demonstrated that citric acid extraction followed by freeze-drying yielded the highest pectin recovery, at approximately 26.7%, highlighting the suitability of this approach for efficient by-product valorisation. Oven-dried pectins exhibited higher moisture contents (8.5–10%) and lower lightness values (L* = 57.02–65.67), indicating darker colouration compared to freeze-dried pectins (L* = 78.82–83.75). All extracted pectins presented a degree of esterification (DE ≥ 50%), classifying them as high-methoxyl pectins. The galacturonic acid (GalA) content ranged from 37.6 to 48.9% for oven-dried samples and increased to 44.1–58.6% for freeze-dried samples. Furthermore, pectin obtained from lemon by-products exhibited a well-defined structural organisation and enhanced thermal stability, especially for freeze-dried pectin samples, and suitable rheological properties, with no statistically significant variations observed between different acids or drying conditions, supporting its technological suitability for applications in the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries.
- Toward Port wine authenticity: from spectrum to signaturePublication . Ferreira, V. S. Fernandes; Lima, Manuel; Ribeiro, Natália; Ferreira, A. C. SilvaPort wine is a fortified wine whose aging process involves marked molecular transformations that influence both sensory properties and commercial classification. Oxygen exposure and temperature are the main factors governing this evolution. Different oxidation regimes, from prolonged oxidative aging in wood to comparatively lower oxygen exposure in bottle, contribute to the differentiation of Port wine categories such as Colheita, Tawny, Vintage, and Late Bottled Vintage. At the molecular level, carbohydrates, amino compounds, and phenolic compounds are interconnected through aging-related oxidative reactions, including Strecker degradation, Maillard-type pathways, and the formation of furanic compounds derived from sugar degradation. These oxygen-dependent chemical trajectories may generate infrared spectral signatures that evolve predictably with age. In this study, FTIR spectroscopy was evaluated as a rapid and nondestructive approach for Port wine age estimation and authenticity assessment. A data set comprising 7281 spectra from four commercial categories was analyzed using classical chemometric methods and machine learning models. For category classification, a support vector machine with a radial basis function kernel achieved 95.88% accuracy and an ROC-AUC of 0.9945. For age prediction, a deep ensemble model achieved an R2 value of 0.9803 and a mean absolute error of 1.25 years. A hybrid two-stage random forest model, designed to account for category-specific aging regimes, achieved comparable performance, with an R2 of 0.9630 and a mean absolute error of 1.28 years, while requiring lower computational resources. Leveragebased prediction intervals provided per-sample uncertainty estimates with a 97.7% empirical coverage. Feature importance analysis identified three main spectral regions, around 1740, 1050, and 1600−1450 cm−1 , associated with ester-, alcohol-, and phenolicrelated functional groups, respectively. These regions are consistent with known chemical transformations occurring during Port wine aging. The results demonstrate that FT-IR spectroscopy, combined with appropriate modeling strategies, can support rapid, nondestructive, and scalable estimation of Port wine age, offering a promising complementary tool for certification and authenticity control.
- Full-scale multipurpose ozonation in urban wastewater with strong textile input: removal of colour, micropollutants, pathogens and antimicrobial resistance indicatorsPublication . Campinas, Margarida; Vaz-Moreira, Ivone; Viegas, Rui M. C.; Mesquita, Elsa; Ribeiro, Diana; Ruivo, Afonso; Soares, Joana; Paíga, Paula; Delerue-Matos, Cristina; Faria, Gabriela; Silva, Catarina; Costa, Cláudio; Manaia, Célia M.; Rosa, Maria JoãoUnderstanding multipurpose ozonation performance under realistic and variable wastewater conditions is critical for investment decisions under the revised EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (EU-UWWTD). As most studies focuses on single treatment objectives or homogeneous municipal effluents, integrated evaluations are particularly needed for industry-influenced wastewaters, where ozone reactivity and process efficiency can differ markedly. This study aims to provide a holistic assessment of full-scale ozonation by simultaneously investigating the responses of chemical and biological contaminants, as well as microbial community dynamics, to variable ozone doses applied primarily for textile colour control. To our knowledge, this is one of the first integrated full-scale studies of ozonation in a strongly textile-influenced urban WWTP (51% of total inflow). Ozonation performance was assessed through three full-scale experimental campaigns, each evaluating three ozone doses in the range of 0.4–1.0 mg O₃/mg TOC. The study evaluated colour removal, micropollutant abatement, pathogen and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) indicators reduction, by-product formation, acute toxicity and surrogate parameters for process monitoring. Ozonation had little effect on bulk organic parameters but achieved 50–84% colour removal and near-complete elimination of terrestrial humic-like fluorescence. High organic matter content and colour constrained ozone exposure, shifting micropollutant abatement towards predominantly OH-driven oxidation. Nevertheless, ozonation alone achieved ≥80% removal of the monitored micropollutants at ozone doses ≥0.65 mg O₃/mg C, indicating its major contribution towards EU-UWWTD compliance targets. Somatic coliphages and bacteria log-reductions ranged from 0.9 to >2.3 and from 0.2 to 1.2, respectively. Acute toxicity was reduced, whereas AMR gene abundance showed limited sensitivity to ozone dose. Post-treatment microbial regrowth was observed, particularly at higher ozone doses, including bacterial groups carrying resistance genes, suggesting a selection-like process. Operational surrogate indicators (A254, A436, colour-scan and PARAFAC components) were identified/validated to support process monitoring and EU-UWWTD implementation in complex wastewater matrices.
- Cardamom essential oil exerts a curative effect against Kiwifruit bacterial canker but fails to activate host defense mechanismsPublication . Santos, Miguel G.; Silva, Marta Nunes da; Fernandes, Tânia R.; Garrido, Andreia; Mariz-Ponte, Nuno; Vasconcelos, Marta W.; Carvalho, Susana M. P.Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa) is the most destructive pathogen of kiwifruit, and the absence of curative measures makes the management of Psa-induced kiwifruit bacterial canker (KBC) particularly challenging. Elettaria cardamomum produces an essential oil (CAR) rich in bioactive compounds with demonstrated potential to act directly against Psa, but its mechanisms of action remain insufficiently explored. Here, we investigated CAR’s mode of action in plants with established mild KBC symptoms, and assessed its potential as a plant elicitor. In the in planta assay, CAR application (0.1% w/v, applied 7 days after inoculation) reduced KBC symptoms, with the strongest effect observed 14 days after treatment (DAT). However, CAR did not significantly affect oxidative stress biomarkers, antioxidant system, pigments and primary metabolism, or the expression of target genes related to systemic acquired resistance or salicylic acid and jasmonic acid pathways. For instance, Psa inoculation significantly upregulated PR1 (≈5.4-fold) and PR5 (≈4.3–5.5-fold), irrespective of CAR application. Complementary in vitro assays revealed a transient, phase-dependent antimicrobial activity of CAR: although the effect disappeared by 32 h in liquid-phase assay and no inhibition was observed under vapor-phase exposure, a strong reduction in Psa viable cells (79.7%) was observed after 8 h exposure in the liquid phase. This study demonstrates that CAR exerts a direct, albeit transient, antibacterial effect against Psa, conferring curative activity when applied to plants with mild KBC symptoms. Consequently, repeated applications may be required to maintain disease suppression, as CAR does not appear to induce a sustained preventive defense response in the host.
- Micropollutants and the restructuring of microbial resilience in the AnthropocenePublication . Fatta-Kassinos, Despo; Naziri, Andrea; Manaia, Celia; Coelho, Luis Pedro
- Caracterização físico-química e sensorial de queijo de coalho produzido com mistura de leite de cabra e de leite de vacaPublication . Santos, Bárbara Melo; Oliveira, Maria Elieidy Gomes de; Sousa, Yasmin Régis Formiga de; Madureira, Ana Raquel Mendes Ferreira Monteiro; Pintado, Maria Manuela Estevez; Gomes, Ana Maria Pereira; Souza, Evandro Leite de; Queiroga, Rita de Cássia Ramos do EgyptoNessa pesquisa objetivou-se avaliar o efeito da adição de leite bovino na fabricação de queijo coalho de leite de cabra nas características físico-químicas e sensoriais a fim de corroborar com a melhora da qualidade e aceitação do produto. Os queijos foram preparados com cinco proporções de mistura de leite caprino: bovino: Q1 (4:0); Q2 (3:1); Q3 (1:1); Q4 (1:3); Q5 (0:4), nas quais se utilizou um modelo estatístico inteiramente casualizado constando de cinco tratamentos e três repetições. As amostras foram submetidas às análises: microbiológicas, como controle de qualidade; físico-químicas: colorimétrica, derretimento, rendimento, umidade, gordura, proteína, extrato seco total, pH, atividade de água (Aw) e sensorial: teste de aceitabilidade e ordenação da preferência. Os valores médios mostraram-se significativos (p<0,05) para as análises de umidade, Extrato Seco Total (EST), proteína, cinzas, acidez e parâmetro colorimétrico b*. A avaliação global e a preferência dos consumidores, na análise sensorial, diferiram significativamente para o queijo elaborado com 100% de leite de cabra. A elaboração de queijos coalho a partir de misturas desses leites apresenta-se viável, tanto do ponto vista nutricional, quanto sensorial, representando uma potencial alternativa para a agroindústria de produtos lácteos.
- Full-scale multipurpose ozonation in urban wastewater with strong textile input: removal of colour, micropollutants, pathogens and antimicrobial resistance indicatorsPublication . Campinas, Margarida; Vaz-Moreira, Ivone; Viegas, Rui M. C.; Mesquita, Elsa; Ribeiro, Diana; Ruivo, Afonso; Soares, Joana; Paíga, Paula; Delerue-Matos, Cristina; Faria, Gabriela; Silva, Catarina; Costa, Cláudio; Manaia, Célia M.; Rosa, Maria JoãoUnderstanding multipurpose ozonation performance under realistic and variable wastewater conditions is critical for investment decisions under the revised EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (EU-UWWTD). As most studies focuses on single treatment objectives or homogeneous municipal effluents, integrated evaluations are particularly needed for industry-influenced wastewaters, where ozone reactivity and process efficiency can differ markedly. This study aims to provide a holistic assessment of full-scale ozonation by simultaneously investigating the responses of chemical and biological contaminants, as well as microbial community dynamics, to variable ozone doses applied primarily for textile colour control. To our knowledge, this is one of the first integrated full-scale studies of ozonation in a strongly textile-influenced urban WWTP (51% of total inflow). Ozonation performance was assessed through three full-scale experimental campaigns, each evaluating three ozone doses in the range of 0.4–1.0 mg O₃/mg TOC. The study evaluated colour removal, micropollutant abatement, pathogen and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) indicators reduction, by-product formation, acute toxicity and surrogate parameters for process monitoring. Ozonation had little effect on bulk organic parameters but achieved 50–84% colour removal and near-complete elimination of terrestrial humic-like fluorescence. High organic matter content and colour constrained ozone exposure, shifting micropollutant abatement towards predominantly OH-driven oxidation. Nevertheless, ozonation alone achieved ≥80% removal of the monitored micropollutants at ozone doses ≥0.65 mg O₃/mg C, indicating its major contribution towards EU-UWWTD compliance targets. Somatic coliphages and bacteria log-reductions ranged from 0.9 to >2.3 and from 0.2 to 1.2, respectively. Acute toxicity was reduced, whereas AMR gene abundance showed limited sensitivity to ozone dose. Post-treatment microbial regrowth was observed, particularly at higher ozone doses, including bacterial groups carrying resistance genes, suggesting a selection-like process. Operational surrogate indicators (A254, A436, colour-scan and PARAFAC components) were identified/validated to support process monitoring and EU-UWWTD implementation in complex wastewater matrices.