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Medicinal plant powders have traditionally been used as grain protectants against stored-product insect pests. In this study, insecticidal activity of Carum copticum L. and Cuminum cyminum L. powders was assessed on adults of Sitophilus granarius L. and Tribolium confusum Jacquelin du Val. Experiments were carried out on wheat at 27 ± 1 ºCand 55 ± 5% r. h. The mortality increased with increasing concentration level and time exposed to each concentration. For S. granarius, 7 days and in case of T. confusum 14 days exposure time was sufficient to obtain considerable mortality. For example, 3500 mg/kg of C. copticum 7 days after treatment caused 80% mortality in S. granarius; while for T. confusum 29% mortality was achieved and increased to 100% after 14 days. Therefore, it can be concluded that adults of S. granarius were more susceptible than T. confusum to plant powders. Also, according to the findings, C. cyminum powder had more insecticidal efficacy than C. copticum on both insects’ species. For S. granarius, 950 and 2700 mg/kg powders of C. cyminum and C. copticum was enough to cause ca. 50% mortality after 5 days, respectively. In case for T. confusum, 3200 and 4400 mg/kg of the plant powders caused the same mortality after 7 days. Findings of the present study show that the plant powders could be applied for grain protection in small-scale storage facilities.  

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The effect of essential oil (EO) from Carum copticum at concentrations of 0 (control), 0.5%, 0.75% and 1% on Staphylococcus aureus growth and gene expression of enterotoxins (SE) A and C in surimi from kilka (Clupeonella cultriventris caspia) was determined during  0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 days of refrigeration storage (4 °C). The main compounds of EO were thymol (36.4%), p-cymene (31.4%) and γ-terpinen (21.73%). Minimum inhibitory concentration and maximum tolerable concentration of EO against in S. aureus in broth medium were 0.06% and 0.015%, respectively. The growth rate significantly differ between S.aureus population in control (11.31 log CFU/g) and EO-treated samples, 9.76, 7.21 and 6.06 log CFU/g in samples containing 0.5%, 0.75% and 1%, respectively. The highest inhibitory activity against gene transcription of entertoxins was observed at 1% EO; also, the inhibitory effect of EO concentrations against expression of enterotoxin C was higher than enterotoxin A., as enterotoxin A expression was 4.5 and 8.23 fold lower than control at days 5 and 20, and enterotoxin C expression, at days 5 and 20, decreased 5.11 and 8.94 fold compared to control. The results of this study showed that EO from C. copticum is an effective component in reducing bacterial growth rate and staphylococcal enterotoxins production in kilka surimi.  

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The combined effect of gamma radiation and Carum copticum C. B. Clarke essential oil were determined for the management of Tribolium confusum Du Val larvae and adults. Experiments were carried out at 27 ± 1 ºC and 65 ± 5% R. H. under dark condition and three steps were designed: (A) Application of gamma radiation and essential oil at the same time. (B) Irradiation followed by essential oil. (C) Essential oil followed by irradiation. Radiation doses of 100 to 500 Gy were applied in combination with 5.97, 7.52 and 10.47 μl/l air of essential oil for the adults and 1.91, 4.08 and 12.02 μl/l for the larvae. The result showed that the combination of gamma radiation with C. copticum oil increased larval and adult mortality compared with the control, so that, the interaction of 500 Gy with 10.47 μl/l air for adults and 12.02 μl/l air for larvae caused 100% mortality in 13 and 8 days, respectively; although 100% of the larvae and adults mortality at 500 Gy alone caused within 22 days. It was revealed that the combination of irradiation and essential oils could be used as an effective control method and a good alternative to fumigants. 

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Gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were employed to determine the chemical composition of essential oil obtained from dry fruits of Carum copticum. Thymol (36.7%), -terpinene (36.5%) and -cymene (21.1%) were found to be the major constituents of the oil. The anti-bacterial activities of the oil were mainly investigated against food poisoning bacteria (Salmonella thyphimorium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Entero-pathogenic Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus) by broth microdilution and agar diffusion methods. The oil exhibited significant anti-bacterial activities against all the examined bacteria. In conclusion, the results of this study showed that the oil of Ajowan is rich in monoterpenes and it may be used as a natural anti-bacterial agent in drug and food industries.

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Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne bacterial pathogen causing Listeriosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of methyl cellulose edible coatings containing Carum copticum L. essential oil and turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) extract to control the growth of L. monocytogenes inoculated in chicken portions storaged at 4°C. For this purpose, chicken meat samples were coated with different concentrations of 0.3, 0.45 and 0.65% of essential oil and concentrations of 0.25 and 0.5% of turmeric extract. In the control group, sterile distilled water was used instead of the solution. The samples were coated by dipping method. All specimens were then stored in the refrigerator and counted for L. monocytogenes on days 0, 4 and 8. In the present study, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of Carum copticum essential oil was 0.064%. The results of this study showed that there is a significant difference between L. monocytogenes population in coated and non-coated chicken samples (p<0.001). Statistical analysis showed that the mean log of the number of bacteria in all groups from day 1 to 8 showed a decreasing trend. In total, according to the results, it can be concluded that methyl cellulose coating containing Carum copticum EO with turmeric extract can be used to control the growth of L. monocytogenes in chicken meat.

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In this research, the Carum copticum essence (0.25, 0.5 %) and beta-carotene (0.015, 0.03 %) in the film containing citric pectin were used to modify and determine the functional properties of the films. The dependent variables included moisture content, thickness, water vapor permeability, antioxidant properties, color indexes and microbial properties. The results showed that adding Carum copticum essence and beta-carotene reduced the amount of moisture significantly, the lowest amount of moisture was in the film contained the highest amount of essence and beta-carotene. The thickness of the films decreased significantly with the addition of essence and beta-carotene. The water vapor permeability increased and decreased by adding essence and beta-carotene, respectively. Addition of Carum copticum essence and beta-carotene increased the antioxidant properties of the films. The lightness parameter increased in films containing Carum copticum essence. Addition of β-carotene to 0.015% reduced the amount of lightness, but at higher concentrations, the lightness increased significantly, in the other hand Yellowness index was increased by adding beta-carotene and whiteness index decreased. In terms of microbial properties of the antimicrobial effect of Carum copticum essence on B. cereus was more than E. coli. Due to the fact that the beta-carotene pigment in different conditions changes the color of food products, the films will be used in intelligent packaging of food products.

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Due to the importance of consuming meat and meat products especially sausage and bologna and the adverse effects of using synthetic preservatives used in them, this study aimed to investigate the effect of natural preservative on shelf-life of cooked beefbologna and comparison with sodium nitrite as synthetic preservative. the effect of chitosan (0, 0.5 and 1%) added individually or in combination with CCEO nanoemulsion (0, 1, 2 and 3%) as an alternative for sodium nitrite on microbiological (Total Viable Counts, Coliforms, Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), molds and yeasts), pH and water holding capacity (WHC), of beef bologna stored at 4 °C for 30 days was investigated. The experiment was performed in completely randomized based on factorial in 3 replication. Duncans test at 5% probability level was used to determine the significant difference mean between the data. Results indicated that chitosan addition resulted in significant (p< 0.05) inhibition of microbial growth, so that the lowest microbial counts were obtained in the samples containing both chitosan and CCEO nanoemulsion indicating a possible synergistic effect. Chitosan also improved the WHC and reduced the synersis of the samples during shelf-life respect to the control, while CCEO nanoemulsion had no significant effect on these parameters (p>0.05). The combination of chitosan (1%) with CCEO nanoemulsion (2-3%), which showed the best results, could have a valuable potential for commercial use in order to improve preservation of meat products without the use of nitrites or other synthetic additives.