Impacts of Climate Change Interacting Abiotic Factors on Growth, aflD and aflR Gene Expression and Aflatoxin B1 Production by Aspergillus flavus Strains In Vitro and on Pistachio Nuts.

Pistachio nuts are an important economic tree nut crop which is used directly or processed for many food-related activities. They can become colonized by mycotoxigenic spoilage fungi, especially Aspergillus flavus, mainly resulting in contamination with aflatoxins (AFs), especially aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). The prevailing climate in which these crops are grown changes as temperature and atmospheric CO2 levels increase, […]

An Evaluation of the Impact of the Amount of Potassium Hydroxide on the Porous Structure Development of Activated Carbons.

This paper presents the results of an evaluation of the impact of the amount of potassium hydroxide on the obtained porous structure of the activated carbons derived from the shells of pistachios, hazelnuts, and pecans by carbonization and subsequent chemical activation with potassium hydroxide by different adsorption methods: Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, Dubinin-Raduskevich, the new numerical clustering-based adsorption […]

Impact of granite irradiation on aflatoxin reduction in pistachio.

In this research with the effect of radioactive granite gamma radiation, the reduction of aflatoxin B1 in pistachios was examined in three steps. In the first step, the aflatoxin reduction in small packets by granite bed was tested. In this step, the aflatoxin level of 300 g pistachios packets was reduced up to 81.3±1.5 percent […]

The Hull of Ripe Pistachio Nuts (Pistacia vera L.) as a Source of New Promising Melanogenesis Inhibitors

In the present study an acidified methanol pistachio hull extract was investigated for antioxidant and inhibitory effects on melanin biosynthesis by in vitro and in vivo assays. The chromatographic analysis revealed that cyanidin-3-O-galactoside represents the main compound (98.37%). The pistachio hull extract efficiently inhibits the mono and diphenolase activity of mushroom tyrosinase (IC50= 141.07 and […]

Total Nut, Tree Nut, and Peanut Consumption and Metabolic Status in Southern Italian Adults

Background: Nut consumption has been associated with cardio-metabolic health benefits. However, studies conducted in the Southern Italian population, where adherence to the Mediterranean diet has been reported being relatively high, are rather scarce. The aim of this study was to test the association between consumption of total and specific types of nuts and metabolic status […]

Lethal and Sublethal Effects of Two Commercial Insecticides on Egg Parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) of Green Stink Bugs (Hem: Pentatomidae)

Pistacia vera L. is one of the most important horticultural crops in Iran. The stink bugs Acrosternum arabicum and Brachynema germari are two of the key pests that cause significant direct and indirect damage on Pistacia vera. Egg parasitoids have been considered as potential biological control agents of pistachio green stink bugs. Among them, Trissolcus […]

Rare Earths as Authenticity Markers for the Discrimination of Greek and Turkish Pistachios Using Elemental Metabolomics and Chemometrics

Pistachios are a nutritionally beneficial food source widely consumed all over the world. Pistachios exhibit high content of antioxidants, vitamins and other beneficial micronutrients, including nutrient elements and rare earth elements (REEs). Considering that the concentration of REEs depends on the climate and soil characteristics that vary among different geographical regions, REEs could constitute markers […]