Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1339768
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 FEBRUARY 2021 7 SCIENCE Dr Owen Falzon, Senior Lecturer Centre for Biomedical Cybernetics, University of Malta MCST funds researchers €195,000 to detect contaminated food at early stages A project financed by the Malta Council for Science and Tech- nology developed a non-contact and non-destructive approach for the early detection of micro- bial contaminants that are re- sponsible for food spoilage, with a focus on slow-growing fungi in dairy products. The project involved a collab- oration between the Centre for Biomedical Cybernetics, the Department of Food Sciences and Nutrition at the University of Malta, and Farm Fresh Ltd, and received €195,000. Every year, the European dairy industry processes ap- proximately 152 million tonnes of raw milk, for consumption or for the production of food, feed and pharmaceutical prod- ucts. The raw milk delivered by the EU-25's 1.6 million dairy farmers, processed by the dairy industry, plays a vital role in ru- ral areas, and the dairy industry represents approximately 15% of the turnover of the food and drinks industry in Europe, em- ploying about 13% of the total workforce. Typical tests currently in use for the analysis of milk prod- ucts rely on lengthy proce- dures that can last from 24 to 36 hours for bacterial analy- sis, and 7 to 8 days for fungal analysis. Alternative methods such as rapid genomic subtyp- ing may be faster but are very costly for SMEs not running their own Research and Devel- opment department, while the efficacy of methods such as in- frared spectroscopy can be lim- ited if the presence of water is above specific thresholds. Dr Owen Falzon, senior lec- turer at the Centre for Biomed- ical Cybernetics in the Univer- sity of Malta said that; "The FIHI project consortium inves- tigated the use of a hyperspec- tral imaging to assess the char- acteristics of food products at different spectral bands. These images can be considered as a fingerprint that characterises the composition of the object being analysed." He added that; "Through the automated processing and analysis of the hyperspectral data, this system can help iden- tify contaminated products while reducing time and effort for food sample inspection." In light of recent foodborne illness outbreaks, the early de- tection of contaminated prod- ucts in the processing chain can allow for immediate ac- tion to prevent contaminated batches from moving further down the production and dis- tribution line and reaching the end customer, leading to a significant social as well as economic impact especially in regions at greater risk. The ġbejna, which forms an integral part of the Maltese food heritage, is made from sheep or goat milk curds and aged for several months to develop its distinctive taste. During the aging process, the cheese can become spoiled by fungi and unsafe for human consumption. This is a significant public health risk and a financial lia- bility for producers. Conven- tional microbiology techniques may involve lengthy analysis procedures for the detection of these slowgrowing unpigment- ed fungi, allowing occasional distribution of contaminated products. To test this hypothesis, a model cheeselet was produced with the involvement of Farm Fresh limited to conduct com- patibility and stability stud- ies, through measurements of colony forming units, water activity, moisture levels, pH, protein and sugar content. The ġbejna model was then chal- lenged with fungal strains iso- lated from commercial ġbejna and imaged using a hyperspec- tral camera. Speaking during a public en- gagement event which was held at Esplora, the Interactive Sci- ence Centre in Kalkara, Min- ister for Research, Innovation and the Co-ordination of Post Covid-19 Strategy Owen Bon- nici said that this project high- lights the great importance of investment in R&I in order to generate economic wealth. "The importance of the for- mation of consortia between public and private entities was also highlighted here," he said, and stressed that knowledge transfer was achieved in both directions within a consortium which is crucial to concretising research to deliver solutions to challenges faced, not only within science, but within eco- nomic growth and competitive impact. Executive Chairman of the Malta Council for Science and Technology Dr Jeffrey Pulli- cino Orlando said that; "The Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) has been given a mandate to offer sup- port not only to academic in- stitutions, but also to private and public entities which fos- ter research and innovation to drive international competi- tiveness. Through FUSION, the MCST provides support on two levels - the first being the guidance and mentoring of the technological feasibility when it comes to aspects such as the market-readiness and econom- ic impact. The second, is con- siderable financial support to enable collaborative and trans- lational research activities." He congratulated all involved in the project. The event can be followed on https://fb.watch/3y9aBSgqXp/. Hon. Owen Bonnici, Minister for Research, Innovation and the Co-ordination of post-COVID 19 alongside Dr Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, Executive Chairman of the Malta Council for Science and Technology