Biodiversity Journal - For wildlife research and environmental studies

Francesca Ornella Assiria

Biodiversity Journal, 10 (4): 497-498 - MONOGRAPH

Gianluigi Maria Lo Dico, Antonello Cicero, Ladislao La Scala, Innocenzo Ezio Giangrosso, Ignazio Munna, Antonella Amato, Francesca Ornella Assiria, Vincenza Lo Verde, Andrea Macaluso, Gaetano Cammilleri, Rosaria Collura, Stefania Graci, Valentina Cumbo, Francesco Giuseppe Galluzzo, Giulia Caracappa, Maria Drussilla Buscemi, Antonio Vella & Vincenzo Ferrantelli
Heavy metal toxicity and food contamination: lead, cadmium, and mercury determination on fish matrices from the FAO 37.2.2
https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2019.10.4.497.498

ABSTRACT
Heavy metals can be essential, benefits and toxic. The 246 samples of swordfish, tuna and bivalve molluscs examined coming from the request of private individuals and at the request of the Control Authorities in order to carry out routine checks or inspections of food safety. All the elements were determined by an ICP-MS. The level of contamination of heavy metals in the fish species sampled in the Mediterranean Sea has been investigated as an indicator of water pollution. This study highlighted the presence of lead and cadmium, especially in swordfish samples, but all within the limits of law; mercury is absent in all samples. Top predators have higher levels of heavy metals than other species due to the bioaccumulation phenomenon.
Biodiversity Journal, 10 (4): 495-496 - MONOGRAPH

Vincenzo Ferrantelli, Antonella Costa, Stefania Graci, Gaetano Cammilleri, Maria Drussilla Buscemi, Rosaria Collura, Gianluigi Maria Lo Dico, Valentina Cumbo, Francesca Ornella Assiria, Michele Chetta, Andrea Macaluso & Antonio Vella
Impact of the “Anisakis C.Re.N.A.” APP
https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2019.10.4.495.496

ABSTRACT
Anisakiasis is a zoonotical disease provoked by the nematodes belonged to the Anisakidae family. The trend of Anisakiasis cases increases continously, therefore a constant awareness of this topic is essential for the consumers' protection. An application for smartphones was carried out by the National Centre for Anisakiasis for this purpose. This work aimed at evaluate the impact of “Anisakis CReNA” app for consumers by the implementation of a survey. The results obtained revealed that the app developed has reached the goal established giving easy to understand and easy to consult information for the protection of consumers regarding the risks related to these parasites.
Biodiversity Journal, 10 (4): 489-490 - MONOGRAPH

Claudio Fiorista, Luigi Maria Mammina, Michele Chetta, Pietro Sposito, Antonello Cicero, Innocenzo Ezio Giangrosso, Valentina Cumbo, Francesca Ornella Assiria, Andrea Macaluso, Gaetano Cammilleri, Rosaria Collura, Stefania Graci, Maria Drussilla Buscemi, Antonio Vella, Gianluigi Maria Lo Dico, Francesco Giuseppe Galluzzo, Ilaria Rizzuto, Viviana Giangreco, Giulio Bagnato & Vincenzo Ferrantelli
Sulphite’s determination in equine meat and its preparations
https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2019.10.4.489.490

ABSTRACT
Sulphites are antimicrobial and antioxidant substances recognized as additives. Furthermore, these chemicals may reduce the nutritional quality of food by interacting with some vitamins such as nicotinamide, folic acid, thiamine and pyridoxal. An ionic chromatography with conductivity suppressor detector, after rapid distillation method was carried out for the quantitative determination of sulfites in food products. On two hundred samples of equine meat, we revealed that 23% of the analyzed samples are above the limit allowed by law. Sulphites are used illegally with the purpose of obtaining and maintaining the aesthetic and commercial characteristics.
Biodiversity Journal, 10 (4): 485-488 - MONOGRAPH

Maria Drussilla Buscemi, Francesca Ornella Assiria, Francesco Giuseppe Galluzzo, Viviana Giangreco, Ilaria Rizzuto, Gaetano Cammilleri, Rosaria Collura, Stefania Graci, Valentina Cumbo, Antonio Spinnato, Gianluigi Maria Lo Dico & Vincenzo Ferrantelli
Molecular identification of larvae for Anisakidae family reduced in benthic and pelagic fish
https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2019.10.4.485.488

ABSTRACT
The present work, carried out at the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia “A.Mirri”, Department of Food, Laboratory C.Re.NA (National Reference Center for Anisakiasis), aims to identify species of larvae found in different fish species from the pelagic and benthic environment through molecular analysis (PCR, PCR-RFLP and sequencing) and evaluate the possible ecological relationship between parasites and guests in the two different marine environments.
Biodiversity Journal, 10 (4): 481-484 - MONOGRAPH

Gianluigi Maria Lo Dico, Antonello Cicero, Licia Pantano, Giuseppe Giangrosso, Ignazio Munna, Andrea Pulvirenti, Francesca Ornella Assiria, Vincenza Lo Verde, Andrea Macaluso, Gaetano Cammilleri, Valentina Cumbo, Rosaria Collura, Stefania Graci, Maria Drussilla Buscemi, Antonio Vella & Vincenzo Ferrantelli
Evaluation of Histamine level in the Red Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) of the Mediterranean Sea in 2010–2015
https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2019.10.4.481.484

ABSTRACT
Histamine is a biogenic amine present in fish species associated with a high amount of histidine, and it can cause the ‘scombroid poisoning’. The Commission Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 govern the criteria to analyze histamine in fishery products and specifies that the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is the reference method. In this work, 664 samples were presented in the 2010–2015 shine, of which 46 (6.9%) were positive. With Chart 1 it can be noted that the number of samples has increased substantially in recent years (2013–2015) due to intensified official controls. On the contrary, the number of positives has decreased progressively.
Biodiversity Journal, 10 (4): 475-478 - MONOGRAPH

Gaetano Cammilleri, Stefania Graci, Maria Drussilla Buscemi, Rosaria Collura, Antonella Costa, Gianluigi Maria Lo Dico, Francesca Ornella Assiria, Michele Chetta, Innocenzo Ezio Giangrosso, Francesco Giuseppe Galluzzo, Valentina Cumbo, Antonio Vella, Andrea Pulvirenti & Vincenzo Ferrantelli
New report of Anikasis larvae from Blunthead Puffer, Sphoeroides pachygaster caught off Strait of Sicily
https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2019.10.4.475.478

ABSTRACT
Aim of the present paper was to report and identify by morphological and molecular methods the presence of anisakid L3 larvae found in 7 specimens of Sphoeroides pachygaster caught off Strait of Sicily from 2012 and 2015. Nematode larvae (n=9) were collected from three fish samples: the larvae were morphologically identified as belonging to the genus Anisakis Type I and, stored in 70% ethanol, were underwent molecular identification at species level by PCR- RFLP analysis of the rDNA (ITS-1, 5.8S gene, and ITS-2) region. Sequencing of ITS regions and comparison with sequences in GenBank were also performed. The parasites were molecular identified as belonging to A. pegreffii that is the predominant species in Mediterranean Sea. This is a new report of Anisakis sp. in S. pachygaster. The blunthead puffer Sphoeroides pachygaster is a fish species of Atlantic origin: in the last years there are indeed numerous reports of this alien fish species in the Mediterranean included Italian Seas. The presence of the species Anisakis pegreffii may support the hypothesis of complete adaptation of S. pachygaster in the Mediterranean Sea.
Biodiversity Journal, 10 (4): 471-473 - MONOGRAPH

Gianluigi Maria Lo Dico, Antonello Cicero, Giovanni Lo Cascio, Valentina Cumbo, Francesca Ornella Assiria, Andrea Macaluso, Gaetano Cammilleri, Rosa Filippi, Francesco Giuseppe Galluzzo, Barbara Randisi, Rosaria Collura, Vita Giaccone, Stefania Graci, Maria Drussilla Buscemi, Antonio Vella & Vincenzo Ferrantelli
Use of terrestrial gastropods (Cornu aspersum) as bioindicators of the environmental contamination status of the Sicilian Natural Parks to assess the contamination status of the pastures
https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2019.10.4.471.473

ABSTRACT
The use of land molluscs in biomonitoring can evidence interactions between the contaminant and the biotic sphere. The concentration of heavy metals were determined by ICP-MS. In areas where anthropic and industrial contamination persist, heavy metal levels were above the quantification limit; sampling in agricultural areas shows lower levels of heavy metals. The same trend of results can be found for the analysis of IPAs. Snails can be considered as bioindicators of pollutants living in close contact with the soil and ingesting plants with a high concentration of contaminants.
Biodiversity Journal, 10 (4): 463-464 - MONOGRAPH

Gianluigi Maria Lo Dico, Antonello Cicero, Valentina Cumbo, Francesca Ornella Assiria, Giuseppe Giusto, Andrea Macaluso, Barbara Randisi, Francesco Giuseppe Galluzzo, Michele Chetta, Gaetano Cammilleri, Rosaria Collura, Stefania Graci, Maria Drussilla Buscemi, Antonio Vella & Vincenzo Ferrantelli
Investigation on the presence of Dioxins in the Sicilian Sheep’s milk
https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2019.10.4.463.464

ABSTRACT
Our studies were conducted in 2016 and several sicilian sheep farms were involved. The goal of this research was to evaluate the possible use of sheep as a “sentinel” body to be used as a biological indicator for environmental biomonitoring of dioxins. For the determination of dioxins in sheep’s milk was used a method on high-resolution gas chromatography along with a high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS) in order to evaluate the existence of dioxins with concentrations exceeding the limits imposed by the EC Regulation 1881/2006. A total of 200 samples were analyzed, of which 14 samples exceeded the limits imposed by the EC Regulation 1881/2006: 3.0 pg/g fat sum of dioxins (WHO.PCDD/F-TEQ). It is conceivable that the proximity to high anthropization areas and industrialization, may have a positive influence on the propagation of dioxins in the environment having been detected values exceeding the allowed limit. The samples with low dioxin concentrations were analyzed, with values not exceeding the prescribed limit.

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Francesca Ornella Assiria