Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) are broadly cultivated in the Mediterranean but their environmental footprint is not very well studied. In this paper, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was applied to determine the energy balance, carbon and water footprints (CF and WF, respectively) in 50 farms, organic and conventional, where four MAP species were cultivated; spearmint (Mentha spicata), oregano (Oreganum vulgare), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and Damask rose (Rosa damascena). The lowest value for energy intensity (EI) was observed for organic spearmint (0.18 MJ/kg fresh weight; f.w.) while the highest for conventional Damask rose (5.80 MJ/kg f.w.). Statistically significant differences were observed in EI between organic and conventional farms for spearmint and Damask rose while no differences were found for oregano and rosemary. The lowest CF was observed for organic rosemary (0.051 kg CO₂-eq/kg f.w.) while the highest for conventional Damask rose (0.463 kg CO₂-eq/kg f.w.). Statistical differences in the CF between organic and conventional farms for the four species followed the same pattern as for EI. Conventional spearmint had the lowest WF (61.5 L of water/kg f.w.) and organic Damask rose the highest (1522 L of water/kg f.w.). Statistical differences between the two management systems were observed only for Damask rose. The 50 farms were grouped according to the values of three indicators (EI, CF and WF) using cluster analysis. Four clusters were identified with 68% of the farms (34) belonging to the low footprint cluster which contained organic and conventional spearmint, oregano and rosemary farms. The other three clusters contained the (16) Damask rose farms, where the inputs were higher in comparison to the other three species and the highest footprint clusters contained conventional rose farms. Our work suggests that MAPs are viable candidates for the implementation of sustainable agriculture in the Mediterranean.

Due to the harmful effects of veterinary antibiotics (VAs) residues in food on children's health, urine samples from 31 preschool and primary school children were analyzed for 13 common VAs. Samples of raw and cooked pork, chicken, fish, milk and drinking water from the children's living areas were also analyzed for residual VAs. Urinalysis revealed one to four target antibiotics in 77.4% of the sample group, with concentrations as high as 0.36ng/mL. Norfloxacin and penicillin had the highest detection rates (48.4% and 35.5%, respectively), with median concentrations of 0.037 and 0.13ng/mL, respectively. The VA burden of children in HK was lower than that in Shanghai. Enrofloxacin, penicillin, and erythromycin were the most detected VAs in raw and cooked food. Only oxytetracycline was detected in terminal tap water, and none were detected in milk. Tetracycline and doxycycline hyclate were detected in organic eggs (up to 7.1ng/g) and regular eggs (up to 6.6ng/g), which were common in children's diets. Traditional Chinese cooking processes did not completely eliminate VAs, and the concentrations of some VAs increased, especially after frying and roasting. The estimated daily intake (EDI) results show that the contribution of dietary intake and that based on the urine concentrations of VAs were far below the acceptable daily intake (ADI). The EDIs from urine were significantly lower than those based on cooked foods. The highest level of achievement percentage (LAP) based on dietary consumption and urine concentrations were 39.7% and 1.79%, respectively, and thus current levels of exposure to VAs would not seem to pose a risk to children's health. However, harmful effects of residual VAs during developmental periods may occur with exposure to much lower doses than those considered harmful to adults, and further investigation of these emerging pollutants is urgently encouraged.

Engineered water nanostructures (EWNS) synthesized utilizing electrospray and ionization of water, have been, recently, shown to be an effective, green, antimicrobial platform for surface and air disinfection, where reactive oxygen species (ROS), generated and encapsulated within the particles during synthesis, were found to be the main inactivation mechanism. Herein, the antimicrobial potency of the EWNS was further enhanced by integrating electrolysis, electrospray and ionization of de-ionized water in the EWNS synthesis process. Detailed physicochemical characterization of these enhanced EWNS (eEWNS) was performed using state-of-the-art analytical methods and has shown that, while both size and charge remain similar to the EWNS (mean diameter of 13 nm and charge of 13 electrons), they possess a three times higher ROS content. The increase of the ROS content as a result of the addition of the electrolysis step before electrospray and ionization led to an increased antimicrobial ability as verified by E. coli inactivation studies using stainless steel coupons. It was shown that a 45-min exposure to eEWNS resulted in a 4-log reduction as opposed to a 1.9-log reduction when exposed to EWNS. In addition, the eEWNS were assessed for their potency to inactivate natural microbiota (total viable and yeast and mold counts), as well as, inoculated E. coli on the surface of fresh organic blackberries. The results showed a 97% (1.5-log) inactivation of the total viable count, a 99% (2-log) reduction in the yeast and mold count and a 2.5-log reduction of the inoculated E. coli after 45 min of exposure, without any visual changes to the fruit. This enhanced antimicrobial activity further underpins the EWNS platform as an effective, dry and chemical free approach suitable for a variety of food safety applications and could be ideal for delicate fresh produce that cannot withstand the classical, wet disinfection treatments.