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Arsenic in food and feed can be dangerous. A recent study by Matís shows that 50-90% of arsenic in fishmeal is safe. Matís has recently been working on a research project funded by AVS and aims to develop chemical analysis methods that can distinguish between toxic and harmless chemical forms of arsenic in fishmeal. 

The research has now been going on for a year and a new chemical analysis method has been developed that measures the amount of water-soluble and water-insoluble arsenic compounds. The results show that almost all the arsenic in fishmeal that is in water-soluble form is bound in arsenobetanide, which is safe. It can therefore be assumed that up to 90% of the total arsenic concentration is safe.

Arsenic, which is well known as both a toxin and a carcinogen, is found naturally in high concentrations in seafood. Arsenic, on the other hand, is bound in different chemical species, some of which are toxic and harmful to human health while others are harmless. Current regulations on maximum levels of arsenic in food and feed in Europe only take into account the total concentration of arsenic in feed, even though up to 50-90% of arsenic in seafood is safe.

In this research project, the total concentration of arsenic in different types of fishmeal in different seasons has been measured. The results show that the total concentration varies between species and a certain seasonal difference has also been found in fishmeal of the same type, for example for fishmeal produced from blue whiting. Further measurements are needed to confirm whether there is also a seasonal difference between herring and capelin meal. The blue whiting also differs from the capelin and herring in that its total concentration often turns out to be within the maximum permitted values. There, a revision of regulations that would take into account the concentration of toxic and safe chemical forms instead of the total concentration would have a lot to say, as most of the arsenic in blue whiting has been found to be in a safe chemical form. The high value of the total arena can have the effect that buyers of fishmeal want to cancel purchase agreements or negotiate a reduced price. The development of chemical analysis methods to identify both toxic and non-hazardous chemical forms of arsenic in fishmeal instead of the total amount as is done today is therefore an important factor in defending the interests of one of the nation's basic industries and ensuring the value of Icelandic fishmeal.

The research is carried out in collaboration with Síldarvinnslan hf. and Vinnslustöðin hf. and received a grant from AVS in 2008.

For further information, please contact Hrönn Ólína Jörundsdóttir, hronn.o.jorundsdottir@matis.is.

Monday, September 7 is the show Bacteria Land on TV (RUV). Matís' employee, Viggó Marteinsson, is a significant part of the show.

French actors made a film about bacteria and humans, i.e. effects and usefulness of micro-organisms on humans. The angle of the actors is the good side of microorganisms for humans, but in> 99.9% cases they are vital to us. But we seldom hear of this, but we get a lot of discussion about these <than 1% as they can harm humans.

Matís is at the forefront of research, discovery and development of new enzymes for use in the research, food, pharmaceutical and energy industries. Algae is used as a production system and the use of metabolic engineering in the design of production organisms for chemical production. Isolation, production, transformation and development of bioactive substances and foods are also carried out and their properties (eg antihypertensive and antioxidant properties) are determined by different research methods. Most of this research and projects take place in the field of Biotechnology and Biochemistry at Matís.

Much of the division's work is based on years of research on enzymes that have been isolated from thermophilic microorganisms, and a large part of its activities involves screening and exploration of new enzymes from organisms that live under the extreme conditions of life, high temperatures, high cold, low acidity and so on. in industry.

The division is working on projects in the field of microbiology, such as environmental assessment and analysis of species composition in mixed samples, eg from hot springs, sea, sediment and wastewater. Here, an ecological approach is based on a genetic basis, i.e. sequencing of a species-identifying gene where the cultivation of micro-organisms is no longer necessary.

Matís has for some time been in good collaboration with the Blue Lagoon, among other things regarding research on the growth conditions of algae and blue-green bacteria, their isolation and purification.

Further information about the show which will be on the program at 20:20, can be found at http://dagskra.ruv.is/nanar/4577/

For further information, please contact Viggó Marteinsson, viggo.marteinsson@matis.is.

Sea urchins and shark's cartilage tissue can produce cartilage sugars, which can have a positive effect on various ailments that afflict humans. Matís ohf, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Iceland, IceProtein ehf and Reykofninn Grundarfjörður ehf are currently collaborating on research into chondroitin sulphate cartilage sugars and the development of their production.

Studies have shown that chondroitin sulfate oligosaccharides, which are the mainstay of cartilage building blocks, have a beneficial effect on blood pressure, the immune system, digestion, oxidative processes, inflammatory processes and arthritis. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of cartilage on tumor growth has been demonstrated. Therefore, chondroitin sulfate cartilage sugar can be used as a medicine, health or dietary supplement. Different bioactivities of chondroitin sulfate oligosaccharides have been demonstrated according to their type and origin. AVS and Tækniþróunarsjóður support the project.

At Matís' laboratory, various methods have been used for the isolation and purification of chondroitin sulphate, and it has been possible to design a production process for such polysaccharides from sea otters and shark cartilage. The future is to scale up the career.

Specific biocatalysts will then be used to cut chondroitin sulfate polysaccharides into valuable bioactive polysaccharides. Isolation and production of such catalysts is another goal of the project.

Recently, microbial-containing microorganisms that break down chondroitin polysaccharides into oligosaccharides have been successfully isolated. In order to isolate and produce the relevant biocatalysts in an efficient manner, their genes must be found in the genome of the micro-organisms and the genes must be placed in production organisms. The search for the genes took place in an innovative way.

The genomes of two selected microbial strains were sequenced in their entirety using a new sequencing device owned by Matís and the University of Iceland. The second genome consisted of 6.7 million base pairs, the other of 4.8 million base pairs. The nucleic acid sequences of the genomes were then screened for alleged chondroitin sulfate degradation genes.

Work is now underway to transfer the genes to production organisms and to produce the gene products, the biocatalysts, using biotechnology methods. The Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Iceland will then be responsible for research into the bioactivity of the substances. Foreign pharmaceutical companies have shown interest in the project and it is clear that there is a demand for bioactive chondroitin sugars on the market. There is therefore pressure on the project participants to develop production processes and prepare products for the market as soon as possible.

More information on the AVS website, www.avs.is.

From 15.-18. The Trans Atlantic Fisheries Technology Conference (TAFT 2009) will be held in Copenhagen next September, where many of Europe's, US and Canada's leading scientists in the field of seafood research and utilization will come together and compare their books.

This is the third joint conference of these parties.

The conference is hosted by WEFTA (West European Fish Technologists Association), an association of scientists in the field of fish industry research in Western Europe, and the AFTC (Atlantic Fisheries Technologists Conference), which is a similar association of scientists on the east coast of North America and Canada.

Anna Kristín Daníelsdóttir, anna.k.danielsdottir@matis.is, Matís' Director of Safety and the Environment at Matís, sits on the conference's scientific committee and provides further information about the conference.

Several employees from Matís attend the conference and present material from the company, for example at the poster exhibition of the conference.

Conference website: http://taft2009.org/

Improved thermal insulation packaging for fresh fish products. Experience has taught exporters of fresh fish products that there is every reason to seek all means to protect the product from the heat stress it experiences in air transport on its way to market. 

Research has shown that good pre-cooling for packaging and well-insulated packaging can be crucial for temperature control and thus maximizing product quality. Matís, the University of Iceland and Promens Tempra, have joined forces to conduct research in this field within the Chill on and Hermun cooling processes projects, which are funded by the AVS Research Fund, the Technology Development Fund and the University of Iceland Research Fund. 

It is inevitable that the product will be exposed to some heat load in air transport. Experiments and computerized heat transfer (CFD) models have been used to estimate the rise in product temperature. Figure 1 shows how much product temperature increase is expected in a single 5 kg foam plastic box (without ice mat), which is exposed to a temperature of 5 - 20 ° C. From the picture you can see, for example, that the box stands for 10 hours. at a temperature of 15 ° C the product temperature rises from 1 ° C to 6.6 ° C. The importance of pre-cooling before packing can be clearly seen in the fact that if the same 5 kg had been pre-cooled down to -1 ° C before packing in this same foam plastic box, it can be estimated that it takes the temperature of the fillets exactly approx. 10 hrs. to rise to 0 ° C.

Both experiments and heat transfer models have confirmed that the heat distribution in such boxes can be very heterogeneous, as shown in Figure 2. A more homogeneous heat distribution is preferable, as this way the buyer can be even more confident about the more even quality of the product. Improvements are being made to the Promens Tempra foam plastic boxes, based on the results of the research project.

For further information, please contact Björn Margeirsson, bjorn.margeirsson@matis.is.

Pollution of heavy metals and other toxins in the sea around the country is generally well below international standards, according to a new report by Matís on changes in the marine environment around the country (AMSUM 2008).

The concentration of cadmium in Icelandic mussels is higher than in mussels from the waters of Europe and America.

Since 1989, an annual monitoring project of pollutants in the marine environment of Iceland has been underway. The project is funded by the Ministry for the Environment and partly by Matís. The Environment Agency is the administrator of the project.

Various pollutants in the ocean can enter marine organisms or organisms that feed on seafood. In many cases, this pollution is man-made and there is growing concern about this development. Pollutants are transported by air and sea currents from mainland Europe and America as well as pollution from Iceland. It is therefore important to monitor the amount of pollutants in Iceland, both in the environment and in the organisms that live in the country. It is also important to be able to compare the state of the marine life around Iceland with the situation in other countries, not least because of the importance of marine products to the nation.

Matís' report (Monitoring of the marine biosphere around Iceland in 2007 - 2008) presents the results of the monitoring project for the years 2007 and 2008. The study measures the heavy metals lead, cadmium, mercury, copper and zinc, arsenic and selenium, the persistent organic pollutants HCH, HCB, PCB, Chloride, trans-nonachlor, toxaphen, DDT and PBDE. The aim of the monitoring project is to identify changes that may occur in the concentration of trace elements in the marine environment around the country during a certain period and between different ocean and coastal areas. Among other things, the research is important for the sale of Icelandic seafood in foreign markets, where it can be demonstrated with scientific data that Icelandic fish is caught in an unpolluted environment.

The report states that the concentration of heavy metals such as mercury is very low. However, the concentration of cadmium has sometimes been higher in the marine environment in Iceland than in more southerly areas. However, the amount of cadmium is low in the organisms studied, for example in the range of 0.1-1 mg / kg in mussels. The high concentration of cadmium in Iceland is believed to have natural causes as there is no evidence of human-caused cadmium pollution. Thus, for example, cadmium levels in mussels have been higher in recent years in various places that are far from residential areas and commercial activities, such as in Mjóafjörður, than in Hvalfjörður and Straumsvík. Persistent organic pollutants are low in mussels and cod in Iceland. CB-153 is the highest concentration substance in mussels while DDE is the highest concentration in cod.

For further information, please contact Hrönn Ólína Jörundsdóttir, hronn.o.jorundsdottir@matis.is.