JOURNAL OF FOOD, AGRICULTURE & ENVIRONMENT

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Vol. 12, No. 3&4

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July-October 2014 Print ISSN:1459-0255 / Online ISSN:1459-0263

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Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014 i

WFL PublisherScience and Technology www.world-food.net

Vol. 12, No. 3&4 CONTENTS July-October 2014

Food & Health

Reduction of foodborne pathogens in parsley by an improvedformulation containing lime and oregano extractsAlany Celestino, Brianda Jaime, Ricardo Luvano, Luisa Sols, SantosGarca and Norma Heredia 6

Food security of Northwest China under current waterresources and food consumption patternsJianping Li, Jing Chen and Zhouping Shangguan 12

Modified atmosphere storage of banana (Musa acuminata)using diffusion channel and mathematical modelling of steady-state oxygen concentration within the packageArulselvam Karthiayani, Nachimuthu Varadharaju andMadasamy Siddharth 19

Anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects of -carotene,extracted from Dunaliella bardawil by milkingAbeer M. Badr, Effat F. Shabana, Hoda H. Senousy andHend Y. Mohammad 24

Effects of some technological parameters on chemical andsensory qualities and free fatty and amino acids of variousprobiotic cultures in Beyaz cheese during ripening processFiliz Yanglar and Salih Ozdemir 32

The effects of mint (Mentha spicata) essential oil fortifiededible films on the physical, chemical and microbiologicalcharacteristics of lor cheeseGkhan Kavas and Nazan Kavas 40

Improving the layout of ventilation ports in packaging for freshproduce using computational fluid dynamicsHiroaki Kitazawa and Naoko Hasegawa 46

Peanut protein isolates improve the nutritional quality ofmuffins that can be handy tool to cure protein energymalnutrition in developing economiesMuhammad Sibt-e-Abbas, Masood Sadiq Butt, Muhammad TauseefSultan, Atif Nisar Ahmad, Muhammad Abrar and Mir MuhammadNasir Qayyum 51

Assessment of microbiological quality of ready-to-eat foods inIstanbul, TurkeyVecdet z, Sukriye Karadayi, Hseyin akan, Beytullah Karadayi andFiliz Ekim evik 56

Chemical composition of pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima D.)flesh flours used for foodJurgita Kulaitien, Elvyra Jarien, Honorata Danilenko, Juditaerniauskien, Agata Wawrzyniak, Jadwiga Hamulka andEdita Jukneviien 61

Training a sensory panel for describing texture in peach andnectarinesLoreto Contador, Paulina Shinya, Andrea Bunger, Carmen Senz andRodrigo Infante 65

Antioxidant and antimicrobial potential of dried cumin(Cuminum cyminum L.), caraway (Carum carvi L.) andturmeric powder (Curcuma longa L.)Muhammad T. Sultan, Masood S. Butt, Saeed Akhtar, Atif N. Ahmad,Mubasher Rauf, Muhammad S. Saddique and Ambreen Naz 71

Inhibitory effect of gamma radiation in degrading andpreventing fungal toxinsAmira Hassan Abdullah Al-Abdalall 77

The in vitro antibiofilm activity of Rosmarinus officinalis L.essential oil against multiple antibiotic resistantPseudomonas sp. and Staphylococcus sp.Ozgur Ceylan, Aysel Uur, Nurdan Sara, Filiz Ozcan and TubaBaygar 82

Effect of storage time and temperature on the qualitycharacteristics of chicken eggsYeasmin Akter, Azhar Kasim, Hishamuddin Omar and Awis QurniSazili 87

Evaluation of the antioxidant activity of extracts from Psidiumguajava L. and Anacardium occidentale L. leaves obtained bydifferent extraction methodsSuzara R. C. Sena, Theresa R. F. Dantas and Camila G. Pereira 93

Validation of ELISA-based detection of L. monocytogenes andE. coli O157:H7 in fresh cut vegetablesMarina Cavaiuolo, Antonio Ferrante, Spiros Paramithiotis, AgniHadjilouka, Periklis Tzamalis and Eleftherios H. Drosinos 98

Composition and content of selected elements of Croatianblackberry winesIvana Alpeza, Tatjana Varga and Veronika Kubanovi 100

Physicochemical properties of honey samples from Ondo state,Nigeria, and their bioactivity against spoilage and pathogenicorganismsFunmilola Oluyemi Omoya, Oluwatosin Ademola Ijabadeniyi andOlayemi Bosede Ogonnoh 104

ii Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014

Shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli in raw cow milk fromsmall farm producers and phylogenetic subtype determinationIvo Sirakov, Ralitsa Popova, Hristo Daskalov, Iskra Slavcheva, EvaGyurova and Boyko Mitov 108

Pre-processing glutinous rice effects on textural andmorphological changesViboon Pansa-ead, Kannika Huaisan, Supan Yangyeun andSongchai Wiriyaumpaiwong 115

Assessment of performance ability of Cabernet Sauvignon,Merlot and Syrah wine cultivars on Southeast region of TurkeyDilek Deirmenci Karata and Hseyin Karata 122

Dry matter accumulation trend on corn (TWC 647) as affectedby plant density and planting patternAli Reza Saberi and Siti Aishah Hassan 127

Productivity and gas exchange parameters of selected pasturegrasses under drought stressAnna Koco and Mariola Staniak 131

Effect of sulphur fertilization on fatty acid composition of fababean (Vicia faba L.), white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) and pea(Pisum sativum L.) grainsEugenio Cazzato, Vito Laudadio, Edmondo Ceci andVincenzo Tufarelli 136

Yield and quality of Cenchrus ciliaris (L.) affected by nitrogenand phosphorus fertilizationIhsan Abu-Alrub, Ahmed Aran, Omar Hamad andAbdelaziz Awaga 139

Some alternatives of improvement the cow milk productionefficiency in Albania: Cash flow analysisMeo Maksim, Murrja Arif, Ndregjoni Agim and Cerpja Teuta 143

Improved water use efficiency in rice under limited waterenvironment through microbial inoculationMohamad Husni Omar, Zulkarami Berahim, Norazrin Ariffin, MohdRazi Ismail, Halimi Mohd Saud, Nurul Amalina, S. H. Habib andH. Kausar 149

Numerical investigation into optimal agricultural watermanagement for typical soils using HYDRUS-1D modelPo Li, Feiqing Wu and Kefeng Zhang 155

Effects of allelopathic crop water extracts and theircombinations on weeds and yield of rainfed wheatShahbaz Hussain, Fayyaz-ul Hassan, Muhammad Rasheed, Safdar Aliand Mukhtar Ahmed 161

Genotypic variability for nutrient, antioxidant, yield and yieldcontributing traits in vegetable amaranthUmakanta Sarker, Md. Tofazzal Islam, Md. Golam Rabbani andShinya Oba 168

Respiratory activity of rice seeds stored for 10 years atdifferent temperaturesFabola de Oliveira Krger, Dario Munt de Moraes, Daniel FernandesFranco, Caroline Jcome Costa, Chaiane Fernandes Vaz andPaula Rodrigues Gayer Ribeiro 175

Effect of dietary crude palm oil on quality and oxidative stabilityof chicken eggsYeasmin Akter, Azhar Kasim, Hishamuddin Omar and Awis QurniSazili 179

Evaluation a polyvalent vaccine against abscess disease ofsheep from pathogenic bacteria isolated from Saudi ArabiaK. B. Alharbi 182

Performance evaluation of the Telagasari Irrigation Scheme(TIS) of Karawang Regency, IndonesiaSangam Shrestha, Foyya Yusufu Aquino and Vishnu P. Pandey 187

Biodegradation of imidacloprid in an open compost pileeljko Herner, Renata Baok and Felicita Briki 198

Potential methane production from manure of cattle fed dietsupplemented with wet brewery grainLarissa S. Mallmann, Simone Damasceno, Maximiliane A. Zambom,Mnica S. S. M. Costa, Douglas G. B. Torres andJefferson L. G. Silva 203

Influence of the auxin-like activity of humic acid on bio andmicrobiometric parameters of Pisum sativum L. by in vitrocultures of pea plantsAndrzej Gawlik, Danuta Kulpa, Dorota Gobiowska andRomualda Bejger 209

Biotransformation of 2-(4-methoxybenzyl)cyclopentanone bySolanum aviculare and Rheum palmatum plant cellsPetr Soudek, Zdenk Wimmer and Tom Vank 213

Impact of nitrogen fertilisation and irrigation on water utilizationefficiency, N accumulation, growth and yields of Zea mays L.Waleed Hassan Abou El-Hassan, Emad Maher Hafez, Alaa A. AhmedGhareib, Mohamed Ragab Freeg and Mahmoud Fathy Seleiman 217

Effect of water stress on yield components of sorghum(Sorghum bicolor)Cndido Ferreira de Oliveira Neto, Ricardo Shigueru Okumura, Ismaelde Jesus Matos Vigas, Herclito Eugnio Oliveira da Conceio, LucilaElizabeth Fragoso Monfort, Raimundo Thiago Lima da Silva, JackelineArajo Mota Siqueira, Luma Castro de Souza, Roberto Cezar Lobo daCosta and Daiane de Cinque Mariano 223

Agriculture

Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014 iii

Linseed response to treatment with swine wastewater asbiofertilizerJhonatas Antonelli, Cleber Antonio Lindino, Reginaldo FerreiraSantos, Samuel Nelson Melegari de Souza, Willian Czar Nadaletti,Paulo Cremonez, Eduardo Rossi and Flvio Gurgacz 229

Thermic sum and crop coefficient of canola (Brassica napus L.)for the region of Tangar da Serra, Mato Grosso State, BrazilKssio De Marco, Rivanildo Dallacort, Adalberto Santi, RicardoShigueru Okumura, Mirian Hiroko Inoue, Joo Danilo Barbieri,Dejnia Vieira de Araujo, Roberto Antnio Savelli Martinez and WillianFenner 232

Soil health sustainability and organic farming: A reviewSudarsan Biswas, Md. Nasim Ali, Rupak Goswami and SomsubhraChakraborty 237

Ergonomic assessment of traditional and improved methods ofpaddy threshing for drudgery reduction of hill regionDivya Singh and Deepa Vinay 244

Phenology and green leaf yield of coriander at different sowingdates and harvesting timesSagarika Guha, Amit Baran Sharangi and Sandip Debnath 251

Applications of xerophytophysiology in plant production:Potato yield increase induced by drying the cut trace of seedtuber blocksFeifei Su, Hui-lian Xu, Fenglan Li, Feifei Qin, Yili Chen, Dianqiu L,Linshuang Hu, Yong Li, Shaopeng Wang and Ying Shi 255

Hydric and physiological monitoring of soybean in oxisol andoxisol incorporated with biodegradable waste residueAlexandre C. Salvestro, Paulo Sergio Loureno de Freitas, RobertoRezende, Erci Marcos Del Quiqui, Cludia Regina Dias Arieira, JosCarlini Junior, Magnun Rodrigo Silva, Vinicius Hicaro FredericoAbe and Matheus A. Mendes 265

Sowing dates and plant density of peanut cultivars in differentsoil and climatic conditions of Mato Grosso state, BrazilJoo Danilo Barbieri, Rivanildo Dallacort, Adalberto Santi, KssioDe Marco, Alcir Jos Modolo, Santino Seabra Jnior, RonicelyPereira Rocha and Rafael Cesar Tieppo 269

Effect of composted sewage sludge on durum wheat:Productivity, phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, andtechnological qualityAntonella Pasqualone, Laura Nunzia Delvecchio, Giovanni Lacolla,Luciana Piarulli, Rosanna Simeone and Giovanna Cucci 276

Genetic diversity and presence of DREB gene in watermeloncultivars and wild type of watermelon based on molecularmarkersAbdullah S. Alsohim and Mohamed I. Motawei 281

Growth and visual symptoms of nutrient deficiencies in youngMentha piperita plantsDiocla Almeida Seabra Silva, Mrio Lopes da Silva Jnior, Ismael deJesus Matos Vigas, Allan Klynger da Silva Lobato, Vnia Silva deMelo, Snia Maria Arajo Botelho, George Rodrigues da Silva, JozeMelisa Nunes de Freitas, Cndido Ferreira de Oliveira Neto, MiltonLeite Alves da Cunha and Ana Regina da Rocha Araujo 292

Decrease in photosynthetic pigments promotes negativeconsequences on carbon compounds in young Euterpe oleraceaplants submitted to progressive water deficiencyEmilly dos Santos Pereira, Allan Klynger da Silva Lobato, OdyoneNascimento da Silva, Argemiro Pereira Martins Filho, Carla LeticiaFigueredo de Carvalho Souza, Tiago Rodrigues Ferreira, GustavoAntonio Ruffeil Alves, Elaine Maria Silva Guedes, Ismael de Jesus MatosVigas, Ricardo Shigueru Okumura, Augusto Jos Silva Pedroso, RobertoCezar Lobo da Costa and Benedito Gomes dos Santos Filho 297

Environment

Microbes and dietary values of some major fish sourcesin NigeriaOlajide Adedayo Ajayi, Emmanuel I. Adeyeye and Anthony I.Okoh 303

Impact of micro credit and training on efficiency of small-scale entrepreneurs: Evidence from National Directorateof Employment (NDE) loan/training programmes inNigeriaOlumide Oyewole Akinrinola, M. M. Fasoranti and OluyedeAdeleke Aturamu 307

Modulation of micronutrients and antioxidants defenses inConocarpus lancifolius under abiotic stressAmina Redha, Redha Al-Hasan and Mohammad Afzal 312

Heavy metal distribution in Fagonia indica and Cenchrusciliarisnative vegetation plant speciesAdel M. Ghoneim, Soud M. Al-Zahrani, Salem E. El-Maghrabyand Abdullah S. Al-Farraj 320

Performance of lateral move type sprinkler irrigationsystemJonathan Dieter, Silvio C. Sampaio, Gisele Vogel , Mrcio A. VilasBoas, Elisandro P. Frigo and Alvaro Mari Junior 325

Improving water quality in the Nile Delta irrigationnetwork by regulating reuse of agricultural drainagewaterAbd Elhamed Khater, Yoshinobu Kitamura, Katsuyuki Shimizu ,Hiroaki Somura and Waleed H. Abou El Hassan 329

Impact of PAR interception at different time points on totaldry matter production in rice (Oryza sativa L.) croptransplanted on different datesShrabani Basu, Srijani Maji, Swaraj Kumar Dutta , Sarika Jena,Rajib Nath and Prodip Kumar Chakraborty 285

iv Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014

Antioxidant potential and secondary metabolite content ofgrape berries influenced by microclimateMustafa Ozden 338

Tourists perception on local economy of Terengganu statein MalaysiaMd. Anowar Hossain Bhuiyan, Chamhuri Siwar, ShaharuddinMohamad Ismail and Aini Aman 345

Identification of brownfields in China: Concept, procedureand practiceHongbin Xie, Mingshui Lin , Changchun Zhou, Yang Zhang andLiangjin Zhou 349

Evaluation of the microbiological and physicochemical qualityof artesian well water used for irrigation in ArRiyadhSulaiman Ali Alharbi, M. E. Zayed, Arunachalam Chinnathambi, NaiyfS. Alharbi and Milton Wainwright 355

X-ray diffraction (XRD) and x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysisof ancient bricks from Sungai Batu Temple (site SB1), BujangValley, KedahZuliskandar Ramli, Nik Hassan Shuhami Nik Abdul Rahman, AbdulLatif Samian, Muhammad Rizal Razman, Sharifah Zarina Syed Zakariaand Hossein Sarhaddi Dadian 360

Estimating residents willing to pay using contingent valuationfor ecological restoration and recreational benefits of AL-Prespaprotected area in AlbaniaDorina Grazhdani 365

Jatropha cake as a fertilizer for the growth of Blc. Amy WakasugiYamanashi orchidRoberto A. Ribeiro, Maria Flvia R. Starling and Luiza A. R.Rossi-Barbosa 371

In vitro regeneration of Acacia crassicarpa A. Cunn Ex Benththrough organogenesis from juvenile sourcesGriffin Akeng, Sures Kumar Muniandi and Nor Aini Ab Shukor 375

Assessing salt-affected degraded soils using remote sensing.Case study: Al-Qassim region, Saudi ArabiaAbdulla S. Modaihsh, Abdelazeem Sh. Sallam, Adel M. Ghoneim andMohamed O. Mahjoub 383

Determination of pond water quality for aquaculture andecosystem managementUmme Shahina Khanom, Sabrina Sharmeen, Jannatul Ferdouse, WahhidaShumi, Arifin Abdu, Hazandy Abdul Hamid and Md. Aktar Hossain 389

Impact of pre-sowing treatment on seed germination and seedlingsgrowth attributes of Calamus longisetus Griff. at nursery andfield conditionsM. Rafiqul Haider, Md. Sah Alam, Md. Aktar Hossain andNor Aini Ab. Shukor 395

Trophic State Index (TSI) applied in the assessment of anthropicimpacts on the surface water of a watershedAdir Otto Schmidt, Slvio Cesar Sampaio, Ralpho Rinaldo dos Reis, CamilaJussara Schmidt, Edison Barbosa da Cunha and Lisdefferson HamannAndrade 400

Seasonal elemental variations of Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn andconservational management of Rastrelliger kanagurta fish fromKarachi fish harbour, PakistanQuratulan Ahmed, Farzana Yousuf, Maliha Sarfraz, Nor Kartini AbuBakar, Mansour A. Balkhour and Muhammad Aqeel Ashraf 405

The use of urea molasses multinutrient block on pica symptomof cattleHaili Li, Keling Wang, Limin Lang, Yindi Xu, Qinxian Zhang, WenhaoZhu, Lixian Zhang, Yi You, Feng Xu and Wan Lu 415

Views and attitudes of mulberry cultivators according to theRegulation (EC) No 1257/99: The case of Evros prefectureS. Ch. Tsiantikoudis , A. Parissi , Z. Papadopoulou , A-M. Fidani-Mantzoula,G. Kourtelis and Z. Andreopoulou 420

A proposal to standardize herbicide sorption coefficients inBrazilian tropical soils compared to temperate soilsKassio Ferreira Mendes, Marcelo Rodrigues Dos Reis, Ana CarolinaRibeiro Dias, Jos Ari Formiga , Pedro Jacob Christoffoleti and ValdemarLuiz Tornisielo 424

The relocation of undisturbed soil in long-term experimentimpacts organo-mineral complex degree and combined humus ofblack soilFengqin Chi, Enjun Kuang, Baoku Zhou, Jiiuming Zhang, Qingrui Suand Shanshan Cai 434

Environmental guidelines of So Francisco Verdadeiro riveraccording to Brazilian standardsKayla W. Garmus, Silvio C. Sampaio, Maria Hermnia F. Tavares, AdirOtto Schmidt and Marcelo Remor 439

Isolation and identification of microorganisms from soil in ayoung oil palm plantationNur Masirah Mohd Zain, Rosli B. Mohamad, Kamaruzaman Sijam andYahya Awang 443

Monitoring larval populations of Aedes aegypti in differentresidential districts of Jeddah governorate, Saudi ArabiaKhalid M. Al-Ghamdi , Abbas M. Al-Azab, Hassan M. Khormi, LalitKumar and Jazem A. Mahyoub 448

Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014 v

6 Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014

www.world-food.net Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment Vol.12 (3&4): 6-11. 2014

WFL PublisherScience and Technology

Meri-Rastilantie 3 B, FI-00980Helsinki, Finlande-mail: info@world-food.net

Received 18 May 2014, accepted 24 September 2014.

Reduction of foodborne pathogens in parsley by an improved formulation containinglime and oregano extracts

Alany Celestino, Brianda Jaime, Ricardo Luvano, Luisa Sols, Santos Garca and Norma Heredia *Departamento de Microbiologa e Inmunologa, Facultad de Ciencias Biolgicas, Universidad Autnoma de Nuevo Len, Apdo.

Postal 124-F, San Nicols, Nuevo Len, Mxico 66451. *e-mail: norma@microbiosymas.com

AbstractParsley (Petroselinum crispum-Apiaceae) has been reported as a vehicle for Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7; and Shigella sonnei has been responsiblefor shigellosis outbreaks. Plant-derived extracts have been proposed as alternatives to reduce food contamination without modifying food properties,and several extracts have decreased pathogenic bacterial growth in vegetables. The objective of this study was to reduce E. coli O157:H7, Salmonellaand Shigella levels inoculated in parsley, after washing with an improved formulation of edible vegetable extracts. Extracts from five edible plants,resuspended in ethanol, were tested for antimicrobial activity and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) determined. Extract mixtures wereanalysed for synergistic activity. The mixture exhibiting synergism was used to wash parsley samples previously inoculated with 105 bacterial cells/g. Following 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 d, viable bacterial counts were determined. Chlorine, Citrol, and ethanol were used as controls. Mexican lime and Mexicanoregano extracts (4.3 - 4.8 and 1.5 - 2.0 mg/ml MBC, respectively) were selected. Synergistic antimicrobial effects were observed under a 1.25:0.19mg/ml mixture. The mixture exhibited a > 2 log reduction in the bacterial level in parsley on the first day. In this study, we followed a simple, low cost,and laboursaving extraction system. The antimicrobial efficacy of the improved formulation was clearly demonstrated on parsley. Considering humanhealth and environmental hazards associated with chlorine use, the Mexican lime:oregano mixture provides a viable alternative to chlorine, and isequally effective at significantly reducing bacterial pathogens associated with outbreaks stemming from leafy green vegetables.

Key words: Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Shigella, produce contamination, natural antimicrobials, parsley.

IntroductionFoodborne diseases (FD) caused by pathogenic microorganismsremain a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Freshproduce consumption has increased as a result of healthierlifestyles. However, fresh produce is often consumed minimallyprocessed or raw, and raw foods are known vehicles for humandisease 1, 2. In 2008, WHO placed leafy greens at its highest priorityfor fresh produce safety at a global level due to its potential tocause widespread FD outbreaks 3. The most notably, Escherichiacoli O157:H7, Salmonella sp. and Shigella sp. have beenassociated with FD following contaminated leafy green vegetableconsumption. Parsley (Petroselinum crispum-Apiaceae) has beenreported as a vehicle for Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 4, 5; andShigella sonnei was responsible for eight shigellosis outbreaksin Canada and the US 6.

A great variety of compounds and intervention measures havebeen tested and used to reduce or eliminate foodborne pathogensfrom produce. Chlorine is a common disinfectant used todecontaminate fresh produce 7; however, a chlorine wash cannotcompletely remove or inactivate microorganisms, and it cangenerate chlorinated organic compounds, which result in safetyconcerns for humans 8.

Synthetic chemical compounds have been applied by the foodindustry to control microbial contamination, however, the newtrends of consumers include ingesting fewer synthetic foodadditives, and consuming more natural or all-natural foods 9, 10.The antimicrobial activities of many essential oils have beenreported, and studies have demonstrated these compounds exhibitactivity against foodborne pathogens 10. Yet, essential oils can be

costly to extract, many are not acceptable for industrial processingand some alter the organoleptic properties of foods 3, 10. However,plant-derived extracts have been proposed as alternatives to reducefood contamination without modifying food properties 11, 12, andseveral extracts have decreased pathogenic bacterial growth invegetables 3, 11, 13. In the present study, we examined the efficacyof six edible plant extracts in reducing Salmonella, Shigella, andE. coli O157:H7 in parsley, developed an improved formulation,and compared the extract performance to chlorine and a commercialcitrus-base sanitizer.

Materials and MethodsBacterial cultures: Escherichia coli O157:H7 ATCC 43890 GFP(modified with green fluorescent protein gen as marker), E. coliATCC 43895, E. coli O157:H7 ATCC 43894, Shigella sonnei F2353(modified with green fluorescent protein gen as marker), S. flexneriATCC12022, Salmonella Typhi ATCC19430, and S. TyphimuriumATCC 14028 (serovars of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica)were used in this study. All strains were maintained at -80C inBrain Heart Infusion (BHI) broth (Difco) containing 20% (v/v)glycerol. Fresh cultures were prepared by inoculating an aliquotof stored culture in fresh BHI broth, and subsequently incubatedat 37C for 24 h. An aliquot of this culture was plated onto BHIagar, and incubated at 37C for 24 h. Colonies were suspended insaline solution, and adjusted to a 1.5 x 105 CFU/ ml concentration.

Plant extracts: Five edible plant species (Table 1) were purchasedfrom retail markets in the metropolitan area of Monterrey, Nuevo

Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014 7

Leon, Mexico. Plant material was surface washed with distilledwater and dried for 24 h at 50C. Twenty grams of each samplewere immersed in 100 ml of 96% ethanol, and ground using a mixerto extract soluble plant material. Extracts were macerated at roomtemperature for 48 h 14. Macerated samples were filtered throughWhatman #1 paper, and placed on glass plates to facilitate completeethanol evaporation (approximately 48 h at room temperature).Dried extracts were resuspended in 10-15 ml of 96% ethanol,centrifuged (Eppendorf Model 5414C) at 14,000 rpm for 15 min,supernatants removed, and filter-sterilized using nitrocellulosemembranes (Millipore, 0.45-m pore size). Samples were collectedin sterile amber flasks, and maintained at 4C until experimentalprocedures were performed (maximum 6 mos) 12. An aliquot ofeach extract was used to determine dry weight.

Antimicrobial activity test: Preliminary screening for antimicrobialactivity was conducted using the agar diffusion well test 12. Briefly,Petri dishes (150 mm) were filled with 25 ml Mueller-Hinton (MH)agar (Difco), and surface inoculated with aliquots (100 l) of thebacterial culture (1.5 105 CFU/ ml). Five holes (5 mm in diameter)were subsequently made on the inoculated agar plate, and eachfilled with 100 l of each extract. Ethanol (96%) was used as anegative control. The plates were incubated at 37C for 48 h.Inhibitory activity was visualised as the reduction or cessation ofbacterial growth in the area surrounding the holes, and quantifiedby measuring the inhibition zone diameter.

Determination of minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC):A range of extract concentrations (10 to 1 mg/ml) 13, 15 was addedto sterile 96-well polystyrene U-microtiter plates (BD Falcon) filledwith 150 l of 2X MH broth (Difco), then distilled sterile water wasadded to reach a final volume of 300 l. Active cultures of eachpathogen (3 l, 1.5 105 CFU/ml) were used to inoculate eachplate, and subsequently incubated at 37C for 24 h. Followingincubation, the content of each well was plated on MH agar andincubated at 37C for 48 h. The MBC was regarded as the lowestextract concentration that prevented any visible bacterial colonygrowth (total absence of colonies) on the MH agar plate after the48 h incubation period.

Extract mixture analysis: The efficacy of the extract mixtureswas established by evaluating the natural antimicrobialsindividually or in combination with other extracts. The extractsexhibiting the highest antimicrobial activities were mixed, and theeffects against bacteria were determined by the checkerboardmethod following Orhan et al. 16, with minor modifications. Sterile96-well microtiter plates were filled with 50 l of 2X MH broth,plus 50 l of an extract mixture (containing lower concentrationsthan the MBC of each extract) (Table 2). Plates were inoculated,incubated, and plated as described above. Mixtures and synergismeffects were evaluated by the fractional inhibitory concentrationindex (FIC) 13. The FIC was defined as the sum of the MBC of each

extract when applied in combination, divided by the MBC of eachextract applied individually 16. A synergistic effect was defined asa FIC value < 0.5, an indifferent effect was defined as a FIC valuebetween 0.5 and 2, and an antagonistic effect was defined as a FICvalue 2 16.

Determination of leafy green decontamination effectiveness:The method for assessing decontamination effectivenessfollowed Lang and Harris 17, and Orue et al. 13, with minormodifications.

Inoculum preparation: The assay was performed using E. coliO157:H7 ATCC 43890, S. sonnei F2353, and S. Typhimurium ATCC14028. A sterilised loopful of fresh cultures grown on BHI agarwas inoculated into tubes with 10 ml tryptic soy broth (TSB, Difco),and incubated at 37C for 18 h. Cells were collected bycentrifugation (3000 rpm, 10 min at room temperature), and thepellet resuspended in 1% peptone water. Similar volumes of eachstrain were mixed into a cocktail, and the suspension (1.5 105CFU/ml) was used as inoculum.

Parsley inoculation: Parsley was purchased from local markets,and stored at 4C for a maximum of 2 d before inoculation. Theinitial microbe content of the purchased samples was determinedby microbiological analyses (total viable counts and E. coliO157:H7, Shigella sp., and Salmonella sp. presence) accordingto the Bacteriological Analytical Manual 18. When thesepathogenic bacteria were detected in the samples, the vegetableswere discarded.

For the assays, 25 g of parsley samples were cleaned with gentlewashing using running tap water followed by gentle rinsing insterile distilled water, and dried for 2 h in a class II biosafetycabinet (Labconco) at room temperature. Twenty-five aliquots of10 l of the cocktail strains (adjusted al 1.5 x 105 CFU/ml) werespotted over the previously disinfected parsley surface 17 in abiosafety cabinet. The inoculated vegetables were subsequentlyair-dried for 15 min at room temperature.

Determination of effectiveness of decontamination agents:Inoculated parsley was submerged in 225 ml of a respective1.25:0.19 mg/ml (final concentration) lemon peel and oregano for

Oregano extract

(mg/ml) upper row

0.05

0

0.1

0

0.19

0

0.38

0

0.75

0

1.5

0

3

0

0.05

0.312

0.1

0.312

0.19

0.312

0.38

0.312

0.75

0.312

1.5

0.312

3

0.312

0.05

0.625

0.1

0.625

0.19

0.625

0.38

0.625

0.75

0.625

1.5

0.625

3

0.625

0.05

1.25

0.1

1.25

0.19

1.25

0.38

1.25

0.75

1.25

1.5

1.25

3

1.25

0.05

2.5

0.1

2.5

0.19

2.5

0.38

2.5

0.75

2.5

1.5

2.5

3

2.5

0.05

5

0.1

5

0.19

5

0.38

5

0.75

5

1.5

5

3

5

Mexican

lime extract

(mg/ml)

lower row

0.05

10

0.1

10

0.19

10

0.38

10

0.75

10

1.5

10

3

10

Table 2. Extract combinations at different concentrationsdetermined by the checkerboard method following Orhanet al. 16.

Scientific name Common name Part usedCitrus aurantifolia (Christm.) Swingle Mexican lime PeelHibiscus sabdariffa L. Roselle FlowerLippia graveolens Kunth Oregano LeavesOriganum majorana L. Sweet marjoram LeavesTamarindus indica L. Tamarind Peel / Pulp of fruit

Table 1. Plants analysed, common names and parts used.

8 Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014

20 min. Chlorine (200 ppm) and a grapefruit-based commercialdisinfectant (Citrol K Ultra, Corpo Citrik, S.A. de C.V. Mxico,D.F.; [200 ppm dissolved in water]) were used in place of plantextracts and as positive controls. Non-rinsed and water-rinsedparsley were also used as controls. Parsley was transferred tosterile bags and stored at 4C for 7 d.

Parsley samples were removed at 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 d, and thepathogenic bacteria presence was determined. A 5 g sample wasplaced in 45 ml 0.1% peptone water and homogenised. Followinghomogenisation, and decimal dilutions, the samples were streakedin duplicate on XLD agar (for Salmonella, Difco), TSBsupplemented with 0.05 mM isopropyl--D-thiogalactopyranoside(IPTG, for E. coli O157:H7 GFP) 19 and MacConkey agar (for S.sonnei GFP). These plates were incubated at 37C for 24 - 48 h.The TSB and MacConkey agar plates were examined underultraviolet light (356 nm, UV SL-58 Ultra-Violet Products), andgreen fluorescent colonies were counted. For Salmonella, pinkcolonies with or without black centers on XLD agar wereenumerated.

Statistical analysis: All experiments were performed twice, and atleast three replicates were conducted for all samples. SPSS 17.0was used to compare and analyse efficacy among treatments (SPSSInc. Chicago, Illinois). Non parametrical test and Kruskal-Wallistest were used. ANOVA and Tukey test (P 0.05) were used tomultiple comparison of means.

Results and DiscussionPlant extracts might serve as important alternatives to developantimicrobial formulations to control microorganisms, and as foodpreservatives 20. Results of our preliminary antimicrobial activity

testing five extracts against growth of E. coli, Salmonella andShigella strains narrowed the panel to four active extracts: Mexicanlime, roselle, Mexican oregano, and thyme, which showed growthinhibition zones for most bacteria ranging from 1.4 to 2.7 cm indiameter (Table 3). Mexican lime and oregano activity wascongruent with Orue et al. 13; however, inhibition diameter wassmaller than observed in the present study. The resuspensionsolvent (PBS) used in Orue et al. 13 might contribute to theseinconsistencies. Furthermore, differences in antimicrobial effectsof the same vegetable type may be attributed to a variety of factors,including vegetable quality, growth stage at extraction, and fieldgrowth (ecological) conditions 21, 22.

MBC analyses (Table 4) indicated that the most active ethanolicextracts were Mexican lime (MBC of 4.3 to 4.8 mg/ml) and oregano(MBC of 1.5 to 2.0 mg/ml). Orue et al. 13 reported MBCs from 5.3 to8.1 mg/ml from lime extracts resuspended in PBS againstSalmonella, Shigella, and E. coli strains, and MBC of 5.2 to 6.4mg/ml from oregano extracts against the same bacteria. MBC valueswere lower from the extracts applied in the present study. Thesolvents used to resuspend the extract (PBS or ethanol) canincrease the efficacy of plant extracts. For example, ethanol,methanol, and acetone are superior to water in the extraction ofmost plant bioactive compounds 23.

Different mixed concentrations of oregano and lime extractswere tested based on the checkerboard method (Table 2), and therespective 1.25:0.19 mg/ml lime:oregano mixture exhibited a FICsynergistic effect. Subsequently, parsley artificially contaminatedwith E. coli O157:H7 was washed with this mixture, Citrol, andchlorine. At time 0 (immediately after washing), chlorine resultedin a pathogen reduction of 2.4 log CFU/g, Citrol showed a decreaseof 1.9 log CFU/g, and 1.7 log CFU/g was observed with the

* Standard deviation.

Plant (common name)

MBC (mg/ml) E. coli

O157:H7 43890 (GFP)

E. coli O157:H7

43894

E. coli 43895

S. Typhimurium

47028

S. Typhi 19430

S. flexneri 12022

S. sonnei F2353 (GFP)

Roselle >10 >10 >10 >10 >10 >10 >10Mexican lime 4.30.3* 4.70.3 4.80.3 4.50.0 4.50.0 4.50.0 4.30.3 Oregano 2.00.1 2.00.1 1.50.1 2.00.1 2.00.1 1.50.1 1.50.1 Tamarind (pulp) >10 >10 >10 >10 >10 >10 >10

Table 4. Minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the selected extracts against E. coliO157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Shigella sonnei.

* NI indicates no inhibition.

Scientific name Fruit/

Vegetable Part used

Diameter of growth inhibition (cm standard deviation)

E. coli 43890 (GFP)

E. coli 43894

E. coli 43895

S. Typhi

murium 14028

S. Typhi 19430

S. flexneri 12022

S. sonnei F2353 GFP

Citrus aurantifolia (Christm.) Swingle

Mexican lime

Peel 2.10.1 1.70.2 2.00.3 1.80.3 1.90.0 2.21.0 2.40.7

Hibiscus sabdariffa L.

Roselle Flower 1.70.2 1.40.2 1.40.2 1.60.3 1.70.1 2.00.7 1.60.4

Lippia graveolens Kunth

Oregano Leaves 2.60.1 2.50.2 2.40.2 1.50.1 1.70.1 2.70.2 2.10.5

Origanum majorana L.

Sweet marjoram

Leaves NI NI NI NI NI NI NI

Tamarindus indica L.

Tamarind Peel

Pulp of fruit

NI NI NI NI NI NI NI

1.70.4 1.40.2 1.50.4 1.60.2 1.50.1 2.30.4 2.10.8

Table 3. Antimicrobial effects of plant extracts against Salmonella, E. coli, and Shigella bacteria determinedby the agar well diffusion method. All extracts were prepared using 96% ethanol.

Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014 9

lime:oregano extract. The control, washing with water alone,reduced the pathogen by 0.9 log CFU/g (Table 5). S. Typhimuriumwas reduced 2.9 log CFU/g with chlorine, 2.7 log CFU/g usingCitrol, 2.4 log CFU/g with lime:oregano extract, and the watercontrol resulted in a reduction of 0.9 log CFU/g. Results for S.sonnei showed chlorine decreased the pathogen by 1.9 log CFU/g, Citrol by 1.8 log CFU/g, lime:oregano extract reduced thepathogen by 2.2 log CFU/g, and the water control showed a 1.0log CFU/g decrease. Significant differences (P 0.05) wereobserved among all antimicrobial treatments and water controls(washed and not-washed); however, significant differences werenot detected among antimicrobial treatments. The number ofmicroorganisms exhibited a decrease over the seven-day testperiod, including the not-washed treatments; however, thereduction in microorganisms was more notable in the chlorine,Citrol, and lime:oregano extract treatments (Table 5).

The mesophilic microorganism number was reduced immediatelyfollowing all treatments, but increased during the study period.At day five of the study, these species returned to log CFU levelscomparable to the water washed or not-washed samples (Table 6).Orue et al. 13 reported that no significant difference in mesophilicmicroorganism levels were observed at seven days among sampleswashed with aqueous extracts of lime or oregano, and the control,in accordance with our results.

The synergistic effect between both extracts found in this study(1.25:0.19 mg/ml, lime:oregano mixture), allowed to reducesignificantly the amount of extracts for the washing solution withsimilar efficacy. Previous studies used individual extracts dissolvedin PBS at levels > 5.0 mg/ml of each extract and no synergisticeffect was found 13.

In this study, the formulation was tested againstenterohemorrhagic and non-enterohemorrhagic strains of E. coli,S. sonnei, S. flexneri and two serovars of Salmonella. The resultsexhibited the efficacy of these compounds between differentstrains/species.

Chlorine (200 ppm) reportedly removes approximately 1.5 to 2log CFU/g of background or pathogenic microflora on lettuce,cilantro, and parsley 8, 24. The chlorine efficacy in our study was

slightly higher (reducing 2.9 log), and interestingly, thelime:oregano extract mixture was comparable (P < 0.05) to chlorinein reducing S. Typhimurium, E. coli O157:H7, and S. sonnei.

The antimicrobial activity of different Citrus species has beendocumented. Lemon extract showed activity against Bacilluslicheniformis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Pichiasubpelliculosa 10. Citrus sp. rind has antimicrobial activity againstE. coli and S. aureus growth 25. Studies have demonstrated limeextract activity against several virulent microorganisms 13, 26.Theantimicrobial activity of Citrus sp. extracts has been established,however, few applications with the exception of commercial oilshave been developed. Valtierra et al. 12 showed lime extracts alone,or in a mixture with other edible fruits reduced viability of C. jejuniand C. coli in vitro, and in chicken skin by more than 4 log CFU/g. Orue et al. 13 also demonstrated that aqueous lime and oreganoextracts reduced Salmonella, Shigella, and E. coli O157:H7viability by 2 log CFU/g from cilantro, parsley, and spinach.

Several plants that share similar odor and flavor attributes areknown as oregano. Origanum vulgare L. (Lamiaceae) andLippia graveolens Kunth (Verbenaceae) (synon. L. berlandieriSchauer), are the most studied oregano that exhibit antimicrobialactivity. These plants are commonly used spices with medicinalproperties for the treatment of gastrointestinal and respiratoryillnesses 27. Lippia graveolens exhibits antioxidant andantimutagenic activities 28, and the essential oil is active againstGram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria, and phytopathogenicmolds 27, 29, 30. Extracts of L. graveolens contains high amounts of

phenolics compounds, with flavonoidsas the major constituents. Thymol andcarvacrol, and the oil precursors, i.e., p-cymene and -terpinene are consideredthe antimicrobial compounds 30, 31. Thesecompounds affect the structure andfunctionality of the bacterial membrane,provoking changes in intracellular pH, andalterations in membrane potential and ATPsynthesis 32, 33.

Formulations containing grape seedand olive extracts have been proposedas alternatives to chlorine-basedsolutions for washing fresh produce 13, 34-36.

Bacteria Day Not

washed H2O Chlorine Citrol

Mexican Lime-Oregano

mixture

(1.25:0.19 mg/ml)

Log CFU/g

0 3.90.02* 2.70.06 1.00.0 1.20.14 1.50.02

1 3.70.07 2.40.09 1.00.0 1.50.41 1.40.17

3 2.40.58 2.20.19 1.00.0 1.00.0 1.10.18

5 1.50.58 1.10.12 1.00.0 1.00.0 1.00.06

Salmonella

Typhimurium

7 1.90.03 1.00.06 1.00.0 1.00.0 1.00.0

0 3.50.07 2.60.01 1.10.16 1.60.22 1.80.09

1 3.50.13 2.50.02 1.00.0 1.50.19 1.60.27

3 3.30.23 2.50.04 1.00.0 1.00.0 1.00.02

5 3.00.12 2.40.06 1.00.0 1.00.0 1.00.0

E. coli O157:H7

7 3.00.02 2.20.12 1.00.0 1.00.0 1.00.0

0 3.90.03 2.90.0 2.00.10 2.10.22 1.70.09

1 3.70.19 3.00.19 1.00.0 1.10.16 1.30.4

3 3.50.15 2.60.11 1.00.0 1.00.0 1.00.0

5 2.40.76 1.90.14 1.00.0 1.00.0 1.00.0

Shigella sonnei

7 1.00.0 1.00.0 1.00.0 1.00.0 1.00.0

Table 5. Enteropathogenic bacteria enumeration in parsley immediately after washingwith different agents (Day 0) or washing and storage at 4C and counts at Days1, 3, 5, and 7. Inoculum 1.5 105 CFU/ml.

* Standard deviation.

Log CFU/g

Day Not washed H2O Chlorine Citrol

Mexican

Lime-Oregano

mixture

0 4.70.09* 4.20.25 3.20.16 3.80.14 4.20.16

1 5.70.18 4.50.06 3.90.67 4.40.31 4.40.09

3 5.70.11 5.10.16 5.20.24 5.40.09 4.70.04

5 6.10.16 6.00.05 6.00.05 6.20.31 5.00.00

7 6.10.16 6.10.16 6.40.09 6.00.0 6.20.16

Table 6. Mesophilic organism enumeration on parsley followingdifferent washing treatments.

* Standard deviation.

10 Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014

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ConclusionsIn this study, we followed a simple, low cost, and laboursavingextraction system. The antimicrobial efficacy of the improvedformulation was clearly demonstrated on parsley. Consideringhuman health and environmental hazards associated with chlorineuse, the Mexican lime:oregano mixture provides a viable alternativeto chlorine, and is equally effective at significantly reducingbacterial pathogens associated with outbreaks stemming from leafygreen vegetables.

AcknowledgementsThis research was supported by the Consejo Nacional de Cienciay Tecnologa de Mxico (CONACYT) grant #105389.

Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014 11

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36Lu, Y. and Wu, C. 2010. Reduction of Salmonella enterica contaminationon grape tomatoes by washing with thyme oil, thymol, and carvacrolas compared with chlorine treatment. J. Food Protect. 73:2270-2275.

12 Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014

www.world-food.net Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment Vol.12 (3&4): 12-18. 2014

WFL PublisherScience and Technology

Meri-Rastilantie 3 B, FI-00980Helsinki, Finlande-mail: info@world-food.net

Received 22 June 2014, accepted 24 September 2014.

Food security of Northwest China under current water resources and foodconsumption patterns

Jianping Li 1, Jing Chen 1 and Zhouping Shangguan 2*1 School of Agriculture, Ningxia University, Yinchuan Ningxia, 750021, P. R. China. 2 State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and

Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation,Chinese Academy of Sciences, YanglingShaanxi, 712100, P. R. China. *e-mail: shangguan@ms.iswc.ac.cn

AbstractThis study investigated the effects of water resources and food consumption patterns on the food security of Northwest China. A regional waterrequirement model (RWRM) and a food security model (FSM) were set up to evaluate the water shortage and food security of Northwest China,respectively. The results showed that the water resource shortage of Northwest China is severe and thus the status of food security is unsafe withoutfood import; the urban food security of the region is better than the rural food security, and more water and energy are needed for the urbanpopulation; and the water shortage of Northwest China has increased dramatically since 1983 and will continue to increase in the future, havingalready reached 170 billion m3 in 2010 and will reach 400 billion m3 in 2050. Finally, some countermeasures that should be taken to safeguard the foodand water securities of Northwest China are as follows: control the population growth according to the local conditions and the population andstructure of the ethnic (minority) peoples; promote calorie-appropriate and energy-efficient diets instead of unhealthy diets; eliminate food wastes;and develop water-saving agriculture and breed water-saving crop varieties. The models and proposed countermeasures are expected to providetheoretical foundation and practical guidance for sustainable development and food security of Northwest China.

Key words: Food security, agricultural water resource, food consumption pattern, Northwest China, model.

IntroductionIn addition to population growth, industrial development anduncontrolled economic growth, water shortage is more and morerecognized as a major threat to food security due to its restrictionof agricultural production 1, 2. The changes in consumptionpatterns, i.e., the increasing proportion of water-intensive food(e.g. meat), may become the main cause of water shortage 3.Currently, approximately one third of the worlds population livesin countries suffering water shortage, including north China, westAsia, and Libya and Saudi Arabia, who have used water forirrigation that greatly exceeds their annual total water resources 4.Many authors estimate that a large part of the worlds population- up to two-thirds - will be affected by water shortage over thenext decades 5, 6.

In China, water resources uses can be divided into four forms:agricultural water (62% of the total amount), industrial water (24%),domestic water (12%), and eco-environmental water (2%) 7. Nearlyall agricultural water is freshwater 8 and a shortage of freshwaterexists all over the world 9. So water shortage fundamentally resultsfrom insufficient freshwater for food production 3, 10. Generallyspeaking, different amounts of water are required to producedifferent foods. For example, about 1 - 3 m3 of water is required toproduce 1 kg of cereal, and about 13.5 m3 of water is required toproduce 1 kg of beef in California 11. Consequently, different foodconsumption patterns require different amounts of waterresources. With economic development and improved livingstandards, the proportion of water-intensive foods has beengrowing in food consumption patterns, so that more waterresources are required to meet human food demands. For example,

a typical American diet which includes red meat requires twice asmuch water as a vegetarian diet to provide the same nutritionalintake 12. Also, climate change can be a significant factor thataffects agriculture and food production, exerting either a positiveor a negative influence on food security. For instance, higher CO2concentrations can have a positive effect on many crops byenhancing their biomass accumulation and final yields. However,extreme weather conditions due to climate change can havenegative effect on food security by blocking food distribution,and causing food supplies to be unstable and stored foods todecompose 13.

In arid regions, the difference between water resource supplyand water demand is increasingly becoming acute due toincreasing water requirements and unchanging or decreasing watersupply. China is a drought-prone country suffering severe watershortage. Although the total water resources amount of China is2.8 trillion m3, ranking sixth in the world, its per-capita water amountis only 2300 m3, 1/4th of the average level in the world. However,China is one of the 13 countries suffering water shortage 14. Interms of their spatial distribution, the water resources of Chinatend to decrease from its northeast coastal area to northwest inlandarea. Meanwhile, the agricultural water use efficiency of China islow and farmland soil salinization and environmental pollution aresevere, particularly in the rural area of China 15. With its populationgrowth and rapid industrialization, the industrial water anddomestic water needs of China are increasing and their combineddemand restricts the agricultural water use for food production.In the meantime, the food consumption pattern of China has shifted

Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014 13

towards animal product-dominated patterns, particularly meat-dominated ones, which mean that the agricultural water needs ofChina have further increased. The result will be that the watersupply for food production will be insufficient to meet all demandswhich may result in food insecurity. Relevant data collected in the2010 China Agriculture Yearbook 16 showed that China uses 48%of irrigation farmland to produce 75% of grain yield and more than90% of cotton and vegetables. Therefore, the agricultural wateruse of China is a key factor that affects its food security.

Northwest China is the region suffering the most severe watershortage, where the water and agricultural land resources aregenerally spatially unevenly distributed and the ecosystem isfragile. The data collected from the Main Data Communique of theSixth National Population Census 17 showed that Northwest Chinahas a population growth rate of more than 10, higher than theaverage national level of 5.7. Also, the food consumption patternof Northwest China differs greatly from the other regions of China.For instance, the animal products consumption of the former ishigher compared with that in other regions. Northwest China is adistrict, where there are many minority ethnic peoples includingUygur, Hui, Tibetan, Mongolian and so on. Since these ethnicpeoples consume more fresh milk and meat-dominated foods, andonly use grains as dietary supplements, Northwest China needsmore agricultural water than other regions to produce foods inorder to maintain its food security for its diverse population.Meanwhile, with the acceleration of implementing the GreatWestern Development Strategy in China where Northwest Chinawas zoned as one industrial development region, more and morefreshwater will be used by industry, which will probablyadditionally limit water resources used by agriculture. In a word,people will need more and more water resources to safeguardtheir food security, but there are limited water resources, whichare insufficient to produce food for food security, in NorthwestChina, as well as the limited water resources willbe used by industry and other aspects instead ofagriculture. Therefore, the sharp conflict betweenthe water resources and food security arebecoming acute, and how to tackle these conflictsis a highly important topic that attracts attentionfrom all the fields.

Focusing on the water resource and foodconsumption patterns of Northwest China, theobjectives of this study were to establish aregional water requirement model (RWRM) and afood security model (FSM) to evaluate the statusof its water shortage and food security, respectively;develop models for predicting its future water andfood security depending on the current status ofwater and food security, which were calculatedby RWRM and FSM; and provide sustainabledevelopment-oriented countermeasures to tacklethe conflicts between the water shortage and foodsecurity of the region depending on the modelsand analyses. The results will lay a theoreticalfoundation and provide practical guidance for thesustainable development and food security ofNorthwest China.

Materials and MethodsProfile of study area: With the longitude ranging within 7341'E -11115'E and latitude from 3142'N - 4933'N, Northwest China hasa total area of 3,045,600 km2, accounting for 30.8% of the total areaof China. It covers five provinces and autonomous regions fromsoutheast to northwest: Shaanxi, Ningxia Hui AutonomousRegion, Gansu, Qinhai and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region(Fig. 1). In late 2010, Northwest China had its peak population of96.6 million, which accounted for 7.2% of the total population ofChina and of which the minority population accounted for 19%.The landscape of Northwest China includes plateaus, basins andmountains. Characterized by low rainfall and high evaporation,Northwest China is an arid and semi-arid region. The annual meanprecipitation of Northwest China decreases from 400 mm in theeast to 200 mm in the middle part to less than 50 mm in thenorthwest. Northwest China has an annual total water resources(surface and aquifer water) amount of 230 billion m3, whichaccounts for 9% of that of China. Since a majority of agriculturalirrigation facilities are poorly developed and most of farmingpractice is dry land farming, northwest China depends onprecipitation for the majority of crop production.

Methods:RWRM and its parameters: A RWRM was established, in terms ofwater amount necessary to produce a unit of product and percapita food consumption, to calculate the amount of water resourcethat was used in agriculture to produce food, and to calculate thetotal amount of water resource requirement using a proportionalrate of agricultural water use. The model is expressed as follows:

where WRWR represents the regional water requirement under

800'0" E 1000'0" E 1200'0" E 1400'0" E

900'0" E 1000'0" E 1100'0" E 1200'0" E

500'0"

N40

0'0"

N30

0'0"

N20

0'0"

N

500'0"

N40

0'0"

N30

0'0"

N20

0'0"

N

N

Provincial capitalStudy area

Provincial boundary

Figure 1. Location of the study area.

)()(1

1ur

n

iiiRWR PPWMW +=

=

14 Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014

the current food consumption pattern, 1/() is ratio of waterconsumption for food production to the total water resources, is the proportion of water supply to total water resource, is theproportion of agricultural water to total water supply, isagricultural water use efficiency, Mi is annual per-capitaconsumption of the i th food (kg), Wi is water amount necessaryfor to produce the i th food (m3 kg-1), n is food number, Pr is ruralpopulation, and Pu is urban population. The parameters of Wi arelisted in Table 1 and those of Mi in Table 2.

Wtotal is assumed to represent the total water resources . If WRWR >Wtotal, then there will be insufficient water resources and insufficientwater supply to produce enough food for consumption under thecurrent food consumption patterns. Otherwise, food and watersecurity will be guaranteed. Different regions have different over time; the average is about 83% from 1980 to 2010. Theaverage is within 80 - 86%, which comes from the China StatisticsYearbook 13. The value of is from the published papers 18-20,ranging from 0.4 to 0.6. Since rural and urban food consumptionpatterns differed greatly, the rural and urban populations were

separately introduced into the RWRM so that the estimation andevaluation would not be biased.

Food consumption patterns greatly influence water security.For example, beef production needs 13 times more water thanwheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production to produce same amountof weight, and 17 times more water than wheat to supply sameamount of energy 21. The study divided food consumption patternsinto two types: rural and urban patterns, because rural people andurban people have different purchasing powers, dietary habits,and food consumption habits. Thus, the comparison errorsresulting from ignoring these differences were reduced. Table 2presents the annual per capita food consumption in the past 30years (1980 - 2010), which indicates that the per capita annualconsumption of all food items has increased, while theconsumption of cereals has decreased. It also indicates that theper capita food consumption of the rural population was less thanthat of the urban population, again except for cereal consumption.

FSM and its parameters: A FSM was established to convert foodintake into energy intake to estimate food security. It was definedas:

where EEI is per capita energy intake per day (kcal), Mi is dailyper-capita consumption of the food (kg), Mi = Mi /365, and Ei isthe energy of the i th food (kcal kg-1), n is foods number (Table 1).Energy intake, recommended as the main indicator for measuringfood security by FAO 24, consists of four requirements:i. Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) for adults: 1300 - 1700 kcal per

person per day.ii. Allowance for light activities: 1720 - 1960 kcal per person per

day.iii. Allowance for appropriate activities: 2000 - 2310 kcal per person

per day.iv. Allowance for labours or activities above the average intensity

or surpassing appropriate activities: 2600 - 2950 kcal.This study adopted the average-weighted caloric requirement

of 2300 kcal/person/day to measure food security, which was thecalorie number required for appropriate activities. If EEI>2300 kcal,then the food security was adequate; and if 1700 kcal

Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014 15

per capita energy intake should increase as well as the measurementof food security in underdeveloped countries and developingcountries.

Data sources: The data for this study, including water resources,population and food consumption patterns, were from ChinaStatistics Yearbook 16 and China Agriculture Yearbook 25. Theparameters of the RWRM and FSM were extracted out of thepublished papers and China Statistics Yearbook 16 and ChinaAgriculture Yearbook 25. The parameters of the predicted models(shown in Table 3) come from the regression models, which weredeveloped by the data (from 1980 to 2010) that were calculated byRWRM and FSM.

Analysis and ResultsCurrent water resources and population: The annual total waterresources for Northwest China were almost stable around 230billion m3 in the past 30 years, without much change from year toyear (Fig. 2). Because of the exploding population, the annual percapita total water resource sharply decreased (Fig. 3) from 3400 m3at the end of 1980 to 2300 m3 in 2010. In the meantime, the percapita water supply also decreased dramatically from 1019 m3 in1980 to only 699 m3 at the end of 2010, which was far below thewater shortage-warning line (1000 m3 per capita).With the increasedwater pollution and reduced usable fresh water resource, fresh

water resource for the people was significantly reduced 26.Figure 3 shows that the urban population has been growing

linearly since 1980. Although it has a large base, the ruralpopulation has increased slowly since 1980. Because theurbanization and industrialization have caused many ruralresidents to migrate to the urban areas, and the natural increase inthe rural population was offset by the amount of rural populationwho migrated to urban areas, the rural population has remained atapproximately 53 million in the past 30 years. So, the urbanpopulation growth can be viewed as the population growth ofNorthwest China. Meanwhile, Northwest China will be a mainarea that has a population growth faster than the other regions ofChina, because the population growth rate is 14.05 (averagevalue in the past 30 years), compared with the national average of5.7. Therefore, more population, especially the urban populationwho consume more energy than rural residents, will threaten watersecurity and food security.

Status of water security: The regional water requirement is definedas the amount of water resources required for the present foodconsumption patterns and all other water use. The waterrequirement of Northwest China has been larger than its supplysince 1982, and the gap between the former and the latter hasincreased dramatically year by year (Fig. 2). In 1980, the totalwater resources of 240 billion m3 were larger than the waterrequirement of 225 billion m3. This indicated that there wassufficient water for producing food and other uses and waterresources were not a key constraining factor in agriculture andindustry. However, the difference between the water requirementand the water supply has increased sharply from 5 billion m3 in1982 to 170 billion m3 in 2010. By 2010, more than 80% of the totalwater resource was used for agriculture. Due to water shortage,the agriculture production will be reduced and food supply will beinsufficient to meet food consumption, and food insecurity willoccur without the importation of food. In the meantime, how toproperly distribute the limited total water resource amongagriculture, industry, life and ecology will be a big problem, andan irrational distribution will have a negative effect on the regionaleconomy and society.

Status of food security: The average per capita energy intakes perday were obtained by the FSM model. The rural per capita energyintake per day was less than the urban one during the past 30years (Fig. 4). After 1983, the urban per capita energy intake perday was over 2300 kcal, indicating that the urban food security ofNorthwest China was safeguarded. The urban per capita energyintake per day reached a high record of 3100 kcal in 2000 andgenerally decreased from 2000 to 2010 but remained above 2700kcal, surpassing the food security threshold of 2300 kcal. Thisdecrease resulted from the changes in food consumption patterns,

which was the consumption of less cereal and moremeat and vegetables. However, the rural food securitywas poor. The rural per capita energy intake per daywas 1400 kcal in 1980, which was lower than thatneeded for the Basal Metabolic Rate for adults. Therural population suffered malnutrition and starvationin 1980s. The per capita energy intake per day hasgenerally increased from 1400 kcal in 1980 to 2290 kcalin 1998 but has remained below the food security

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

1500

2250

3000

3750

4500

5250

6000

Rural population Per capita water resource Urban population

Year

Pop

ulat

ion

(104

)

2250

2500

2750

3000

3250

3500

Per

cap

ita

wat

er r

esou

rce

(m3 )

Figure 2. Population and per capita water resource reservesin the different years.

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

240

280

320

360

400

Year

Total water requirement Total water resources

Tota

l wat

er r

equi

rem

ent

and

tota

l w

ater

res

ourc

es in

nor

thw

est

Chi

na (

cu.m

bill

ion

)

Figure 3. Total water resources and total water requirementof northwest China in the different years.

Table 3. Forecast models and water securities in the following 40 years.

Note: P is population, E is per capita energy intake per day (Kcal), W is amount of total water need for food, e is the baseof the natural logarithm (approximately 2.7183), x is year, and R2 is determination coefficient.

16 Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014

threshold; the per capita energy intake per day has generallyfluctuated around 2300 kcal after 1998, being 2400 kcal in 2000,2250 kcal in 2005, and 2330 kcal in 2010. Thus, the food securityfor the rural population was nearly average. Therefore, the foodsecurity of Northwest China was safeguarded from 1998 to 2010,but this sufficient food security may not last long because of thepopulation growth, water shortage, and living standardimprovement.

Food security and water security in the future: This studydeveloped the Population Forecast Model (P), the Energy Intakeper Capita per Day Model (E), and the Water Resource RequirementForecast model (W) depending on the populations, per capitaenergy intakes per day, and total water resources and waterrequirement from 1980 to 2010. W Wtotal, the differences betweenthe water requirements and the existing total water resources, wasused to evaluate the future water situation (Table 3). The forecastmodels depended on the economies, population and food patternsin the past 30 years to forecast the future.

Table 3 shows that the population of northwest China isprojected to grow exponentially from 110.5 million at the end of2020 to 135.9 million in 2050, a 25.4 million increase, and more than80% of the population will become urban residents in 2050.Meanwhile, the per capita energy intake per day and the regionalwater requirement will reach 3762 kcal and 625.5 m3 in 2050,respectively. The water gap (W Wtotal) will increase sharply in thenext 40 years. The total water resources will meet only 50% of thewater requirement of 463.5 billion m3 in 2020 and the gap will reach400.1 billion m3 in 2050. Consequentially, the population growth,sharp water gap increase and energy intakes of northwest Chinawill threaten the food security because of the insufficient waterfor producing food in the future.

DiscussionWater shortage and food security have become primary factorsthat restrict the national economic progress of China. If watershortage evolves into a crisis, the effects may be far more severethan the crisis of oil shortage that we have experienced so far 27.Water security is the basis for food security, which is the basis formodern agriculture. Agriculture can save water resources tosafeguard food security by consuming less water to produce morefood 28, 29. At present, water resources for food security of China isfacing challenges resulting from the water shortage, due toincreasing industrial and urban water uses, lack of extensive waterresources management, and water loss and soil erosion.Agricultural water use is crucial to China, because China has a big

population and suffers poverty. Two-thirds of the undernourishedpopulation (not enough food to eat) of the world live in sevencountries (Bangladesh, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo,Ethiopia, India, Indonesia and Pakistan) and over 40% of theundernourished population live in China and India 30. Thus, waterfor food production cannot be diverted for other uses, especiallyin the rural area of Northwest China where much of theundernourished population lives. The typical water distributionpattern of China is that it is dry in its northwest and humid in itssoutheast, and its water supply differs across regions and time.Because the water supply of Northwest China represents a muchsmaller portion of Chinas total water resource, it faces very seriousproblems with agricultural water shortage. Since agriculture isnow the largest branch of water user, it is important to developmodern water-saving agriculture to safeguard the food security,water security, and ecology security of China. The measures forthis purpose have been recognized by the scientists andgovernments 31, 32. In addition, most reserve cultivated-landresources of China are located in Northwest; it is difficult to exploitthem because of water shortage. So, the option to safeguard foodsecurity by expanding the amount of cultivated land will be difficultto achieve.

Insufficient food resulting from water shortage in NorthwestChina can be made up through trade 23 or food distribution. Ourstudy showed that in 2010, the total water requirement of NorthwestChina was 390 billion m3, but the total water resources were only230 billion m3. Also, the agricultural water requirement of 72.5billion m3 is more than agricultural water supply of 42.5 billion m3,so that obviously the region does not have enough water toproduce food under the current food consumption patterns.Nevertheless, both the rural and urban food securities of northwestChina were good in 2010 mainly because reasonable food tradeand grain circulation offset its food shortage. Where trade ispossible at a reasonably low water cost, the crucial food securityissue is whether the monetary and non-monetary resources at thedisposal of the population are sufficient to allow everyone to getaccess to adequate food supplies rather than not whether thefoods are sufficient, that is to say, food availability is not a keyfactor affecting food security. An important corollary to this isthat regional self-sufficiency is neither necessary nor sufficientto guarantee food security at the regional level. It is noted thatHong Kong and Singapore are not self-sufficient (they dont haveagriculture) but their populations are food-secure, meanwhile,India is self-sufficient but a large part of its population is notfood-secure 13. However, more and more people will suffer fromfood insecurity, if there are insufficient food supplies for tradingor circulation. In other words, both food production and tradingare important for safeguarding food security.

The results of this study showed that the water requirement forfood production has almost doubled from 1980 to 2010 (Fig. 3),largely due to an increase in animal products consumption in therecent decades. The models indicate that the future total waterrequirement for food production will be likely to increase in thenext four decades. Even under the low modernization scenario,food consumption pattern shifts along with population growthwill probably cause the total water requirement to reach 400 billionm3 per year in 2050, even taking into consideration relevanttechnological advances. This will undoubtedly put enormouspressure on limited water resources in Northwest China. The

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

1500

1800

2100

2400

2700

3000P

er c

apit

a e

nerg

y in

take

per

day

(K

cal/p

erso

n /d

ay )

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Urban area Rural area Food security line

Figure 4. Per capita energy intakes per day of northwestChina in the different years.

Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014 17

RWRM model showed that there were five key factors affectingthe regional water requirement of Northwest China: population,food consumption pattern, agricultural water, water supplycapacity, and crop water use efficiency. The followingcountermeasures in terms of the five factors probably couldguarantee the future water security and food security of NorthwestChina.

First, the population growth of Northwest China should beregulated according to the local conditions. At present, thepopulation of northwest China is mainly rural with many ethnicpeoples living together, and thus the possibilities of the economicsecurity, societal security and cultural security should beconsidered in a balanced way. Proper population countermeasuresshould be taken and timely adjusted according to the populationand structure of the ethnic peoples to ensure common developmentand prosperity of all the nationalities concerned. While thepopulation size will be controlled, the populations quality of lifeshould be improved.

Second, caloric-appropriate diets and energy-efficient foodconsumption patterns instead of unhealthy diets should b