TITAN partner Università Cattolica di Sacro Cuore (UCSC) has recently published a new article in Food Control (Elsevier) titled “Development of fluorescence and colorimetric LAMP-based assays for rapid and sensitive detection of toxigenic Bacillus cereus group strains in plant-based products.”
The research addresses the growing need to assess the toxigenic potential of Bacillus cereus, a spore-forming, gram-positive bacterium found in soil and food that produces toxins, causing food poisoning, in addition to the presence of the bacteria. Bacillus cereus is a major microbiological risk in plant-based foods, particularly as global demand for these products continues to rise.
The study also ensures method applicability across different plant-based product structures and optimizes the assays to require minimal equipment. This approach makes the rapid detection method practical for use in industrial contexts, supporting safer production and faster response to potential contamination.
This paper contributes directly to the TITAN project’s goal of improving food safety by developing rapid detection tools for toxic genes in plant-based foods.
Find the full publication in the scientific publications section.
English