Doctoral students Nathália Leite, Bianca Hosken and Juniel de Oliveira, and professors Felipe de Almeida and Guilherme Martin represented the Graduate Program in Agricultural Microbiology at the Latin American Symposium on Food Safety (IAFP Latino – 2024), held between November 11 and 14 in Santos (SP). In the event for the first time, the researchers had the opportunity to present part of the research they have been developing in Viçosa and participated in a series of activities involving topics related to food safety and quality. Bianca and Juniel had their work awarded.

This year’s event was organized by the Brazilian Association for Food Protection (BRAFP), with support from the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP). “It is an important event because it provides an updated view of what we have in research and industry in the area of ​​food safety,” says Professor Felipe. “A topic that has been much discussed lately, for example, is plant-based foods, and there were many approaches regarding specific legislation for this type of food, in addition to the issue of the microbiological aspect, which are the main pathogens and spoilage agents of these foods. We also had discussions on antimicrobial resistance by microorganisms found in the food production chain, as well as on lactic acid bacteria, biofilms, among many other things.”

Under the supervision of Professor Solimar Machado, Juniel was awarded first place in the Young Scientist Award, offered by the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS). The award-winning work is entitled “Ozone as a promising strategy for controlling blue discoloration caused by Pseudomonas spp. in fresh cheese“. “This work is the result of my master’s research, and we will continue this line of research in my doctorate”, explains the researcher. The study seeks solutions to a problem of great relevance in the dairy industry, blue stains, especially in cheeses. Caused by bacteria, these stains compromise the quality of food, leading to the need for industries to discard entire batches. “My work proposed an innovative control strategy based on the application of ozone. This is a promising technology, widely recognized as sustainable due to its characteristic of not generating polluting residues in the environment. Unlike most sanitizers currently used, which can cause negative impacts on the environment, ozone stands out as a more ecological alternative. This difference was, without a doubt, a determining factor in winning this award.”

Bianca was awarded second place by the Sociedade Brasileira de Microbiologia (SBM) in the category that highlights research in food microbiology related to human health with the work “Biosafety assessment of lactic acid bacteria from raw milk, raw milk cheeses and dairy environment”. In the work, Bianca, under the guidance of Professor Guilherme Martin, analyzed 12 strains of different species of lactic acid bacteria, obtained from raw milk, raw milk cheese and dairy environment, from different countries in Europe. “During the research, we performed tests related to the safety characteristics of the strains, which were hemolytic activity, gelatinase production and resistance to eight different antimicrobials by minimum inhibitory concentration. The award-winning work was precisely about the biosafety tests, in which their results were related to the importance of analyzing bacteria that can be applied in the food industry.” For the researcher, the greatest merit of the work is to demonstrate how science can be used to develop safer products for the population.