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Impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Analysis of institutional authors

Gonzalez, AAuthorGarcía-Ferrús, MAuthorFerrus, MaCorresponding AuthorBotella, SCorresponding Author

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October 30, 2024
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Simultaneous Detection of Four Main Foodborne Pathogens in Ready-to-Eat Food by Using a Simple and Rapid Multiplex PCR (mPCR) Assay

Publicated to: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 19 (3): 1-18 - 2022-01-01 19(3), DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19031031

Authors:

Boukharouba, Aya; González Pellicer, Ana; García-Ferrús, M. ; Ferrús Pérez, Mª Antonia; Botella Grau, Mª Salud
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Affiliations

Univ Politecn Valencia, Ctr Avanzado Microbiol Alimentos, Dept Biotechnol, Camino Vera S-N - Author

Abstract

The increasing consumption of organic or ready-to-eat food may cause serious foodborne disease outbreaks. Developing microbiological culture for detection of food-borne pathogens is time-consuming, expensive, and laborious. Thus, alternative methods such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are usually employed for outbreaks investigation. In this work, we aimed to develop a rapid and simple protocol for the simultaneous detection of Escherichia coli (E coli), Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Salmonella enterica (S. enterica), by the combination of an enrichment step in a single culture broth and a multiplex PCR (mPCR) assay. The effectiveness of several enrichment media was assessed by culture and PCR. Buffered peptone water (BPW) was selected as the optimum one. Then, mPCR conditions were optimized and applied both to pure co-cultures and artificially inoculated food samples (organic lettuce and minced meat). In the culture medium inoculated at 10(0) CFU/mL, mPCR was able to detect the four microorganisms. When performed on artificially food samples, the mPCR assy was able to detect E. coli, S. enterica, and L. monocytogenes. In conclusion, BPW broth can effectively support the simultaneous growth of E. coli, S. aureus, L. monocytogenes, and S. enterica and could be, thus, used prior to a mPCR detection assay in ready-to-eat food, thereby considerably reducing the time, efforts and costs of analyzes.
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Keywords

ArticleBacillus cereusBacterial growthBacterium contaminationBacterium cultureBacterium detectionBroth dilutionCitrobacter freundiiCo-enrichmentCocultureColiform bacteriumColony forming unitCompetitionControlled studyConvenience foodDetectionDetection methodE. coliEntericaEscherichia coliEscherichia coli o157Escherichia-coli o157-h7Food contaminationFood controlFood microbiologyFood safetyFoodborne pathogenFoodborne pathogens detectionGeneticsGood health and well-beingL. monocytogenesLettuceLimit of detectionListeria grayiListeria innocuaListeria monocytogenesListeria-monocytogenesMeatMicrococcus luteusMicroorganismMultiplex pcrMultiplex pcr (mpcr)Multiplex polymerase chain reactionNonhumanOptimizationOrganic foodPathogenPolymerase chain reactionPolymerase-chain-reactionProceduresReady-to-eat foodS. aureusS. entericaSalmonella entericaSalmonella spp.Selective enrichment brothSensitivity and specificitySimultaneous growthStaphylococcus aureusStaphylococcus epidermidisStaphylococcus-aureusTyphimurium

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations from Scopus Elsevier, it yields a value for the Field-Weighted Citation Impact from the Scopus agency: 2.53, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 13, 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-13, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 32
  • Scopus: 37
  • Europe PMC: 6
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-13:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 97 (PlumX).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: http://hdl.handle.net/10251/198870
Continuing with the social impact of the work, it is important to emphasize that, due to its content, it can be assigned to the area of interest of ODS 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, with a probability of 0% according to the mBERT algorithm developed by Aurora University.
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Boukharouba, A) and Last Author (Botella Grau, Mª Salud).

the authors responsible for correspondence tasks have been Ferrús Pérez, Mª Antonia and Botella Grau, Mª Salud.

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Awards linked to the item

FundingThis research was funded by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, Spain, Grant number PID2019-105691RB-I00. Miguel Garcia-Ferrus is the recipient of a PEJ2018- 003746A Grant from Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad, Spain.
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