Date palm has been a major fruit tree in the Middle East over thousands of years, especially in the Arabian Peninsula. Dates are consumed fresh (Rutab) or after partial drying and storage (Tamar) during off-season. The aim of the study was to provide in-depth analysis of fungal communities associated with the skin (outer part) and mesocarp (inner fleshy part) of stored dates (Tamar) of two cultivars (Khenizi and Burny) through the use of Illumina MiSeq sequencing. The study revealed the dominance of Ascomycota (94%) in both cultivars, followed by Chytridiomycota (4%) and Zygomycota (2%). Among the classes recovered, Eurotiomycetes, Dothideomycetes, Saccharomycetes and Sordariomycetes were the most dominant. A total of 54 fungal species were detected, with species belonging to Penicillium, Alternaria, Cladosporium and Aspergillus comprising more than 60% of the fungal reads. Some potentially mycotoxin-producing fungi were detected in stored dates, including Aspergillus flavus, A. versicolor and Penicillium citrinum, but their relative abundance was very limited (<0.5%). PerMANOVA analysis revealed the presence of insignificant differences in fungal communities between date parts or date cultivars, indicating that fungal species associated with the skin may also be detected in the mesocarp. It also indicates the possible contamination of dates from different cultivars with similar fungal species, even though if they are obtained from different areas. The analysis shows the presence of different fungal species in dates. This appears to be the first study to report 25 new fungal species in Oman and 28 new fungal species from date fruits. The study discusses the sources of fungi on dates and the presence of potentially mycotoxin producing fungi on date skin and mesocarp.

Fish drying is one of the traditional methods where the fishermen land their catch on the beaches for drying traditionally under sun for several days. Dried fish provides valuable and economical sources of animal protein. The quality of dried fish is significantly influenced by the presence of microorganisms. Therefore, this study aims to determine the physical quality changes in anchovy under three different solar drying methods which are open sun drying (OSD), solar greenhouse tunnel dryer (GTD), and forced convective solar dryer (FCD) and to verify the chemical and microbial contamination in solar-dried anchovy. About (20 kg) of fresh anchovy were taken for experiments. Quality analyses were conducted in the samples before, during, and after drying. The parameters analyzed included three main analyses which are physical, chemical, and microbial analyses. The drying rate was higher in GTD compared to the two other methods. Moisture content, drying rate, and moisture ratio were significantly affected by drying methods. GTD required less time (6 hr) to dry anchovies compared to other drying methods (9 hr time). The highest reduction in lightness is in GTD dried anchovies followed by FCD and OSD. The drying methods and drying time statistically affect the lightness (L) of dried anchovies ( ). The water activity of solar-dried anchovies was 0.3. Experimentally dried anchovies were found to have lower microbial count compared to the dried fish quality standards. The total viable count (TVC) in fresh anchovy was 6.44 log CFU/g compared to the greenhouse tunnel dryer 2.90 log CFU/g, open sun dryer 4.16 log CFU/g, and forced convective dryer 4.19 log CFU/g anchovies. Water activity and moisture content did not affect total viable count (TVC) significantly, but it affects total fungal count (TFC) ( ). There was a significant difference on Krusal Wallis between the samples of three methods of drying and a fresh one on the water activity, ash content, and fat content ( ).

The assessment of microbial spoilage in fresh fish is a major concern for the fish industry. This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency and reliability of an electronic nose (E-nose) to detect microbial spoilage of fresh sardines (Sardinella longiceps) by comparing its measurements with Total Bacterial Count (TBC), Hydrogen Sulfide (H₂S) producing bacterial count and Trimethylamine Oxide (TMAO) reducing bacterial count after variable storage conditions. The samples were stored at 0 °C (0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 days) and 25 °C (0, 3, 6, and 9 h), while day 0 was used as a control. The E-nose measurements were analyzed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Microbial counts increased significantly and simultaneously with the changes in E-nose measurements during storage. The LDA and ANN showed a good classification of E-nose data for different storage times at two storage temperatures (0 °C and 25 °C) compared to PCA. It is expected as PCA is based on linear relationships between the factors, while ANN is based on non-linear relationships. Correlation coefficients between E-nose and TBC, TMAO-reducing bacterial and H₂S-producing bacterial counts at 0 °C were 0.919, 0.960 and 0.915, respectively, whereas at 25 °C, the correlation coefficients were 0.859, 0.945 and 0.849, respectively. These positive correlations qualify the E-nose as an efficient and reliable device for detecting microbial spoilage of fish during storage.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), a hepatocarcinogenic metabolite produced by certain strains of Aspergillus section Flavi, is one of the major contaminants in red chili products that affect human health. This study determined the level of AFB1 in chili traded in Oman. In addition, a survey was conducted among 260 respondents to assess consumers’ knowledge and awareness of aflatoxin contamination in chili. A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed on 58 samples of dried red chili pods, red chili flakes, and red chili powder collected from various markets in Oman. The ELISA results showed the presence of AFB1 in all the samples analyzed. None of the dried red chili pod samples exceeded 10 ppb AFB1, the maximum permissible limit adopted by the Oman Legislation for foods, whereas a few red chili flakes and red chili powder samples exceeded 10 ppb. However, AFB1 content in all the samples was below the maximum tolerance limit of 20 ppb set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The survey results revealed that most respondents were unaware of aflatoxins, as education, gender, and social media were found to be significant determinants of aflatoxin awareness. This study provides valuable insights into the level of AFB1 contamination in red chili products, raises the need for aflatoxin awareness in Oman, and urges for safe culinary practices in the region.