Iranian Journal of

Background and Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of seasonal variation on the diversity of fungal airborne species in the composting process.
Materials and Methods: Samples were taken based on the 0800 NIOSH method at a height of 1.5 m above the ground during the waste separation, turning of windrow and stabilization of compost. Air samples were collected in two various seasons; summer (108 samples) and winter (108 samples) at the composting plant in Shiraz. The culture media consisted of Sabouraud Dextrose Agar with chloramphenicol for the selective isolation of fungi, which was further incubated at 37 and 45°C. The results were analyzed by a t-test method using MATLAB 2018.
Results: The highest mesophilic fungi density was related to the segregation process of composting. The variation of fungi observed was higher during summer throughout separation and stabilization process (p < 0.05). The predominant species were found to be Aspergillus flavus (4449.8 CFU/m³) (p < 0.05) and Paecilomyces (1850.9 CFU/m³) (p < 0.05), respectively. Furthermore, the highest varieties of fungal species in the turning of windrow mass were observed during winter (p < 0.05) and the predominant species was yeast (420.6 CFU/m³). At all stages of composting, the varieties of thermophilic fungal species were higher during summer with the large number of Aspergillus fumigatus, Mucoral, and Paecilomyces.
Conclusion: The density and diversity of mesophilic fungi during summer was higher than winter. The concentration of Aspergillus, was beyond the guidelines set by the EPA, ACGIH, NIOSH and EU. Thus, the use of self-protection is essential.

Background and Objective: Although hygiene standards are often not fully observed in the preparation of many foods, the demand for ready-made meals has increased due to urbanization and time constraints. This study aimed to investigate and compare the microbial load on surfaces, equipment, and restaurant workers' hands before and after disinfection with savory extract, and to compare its effectiveness with ethanol in restaurants across Shiraz.
Materials and Methods: Ten restaurants in Shiraz were selected through simple random sampling for this study. A total of 180 culture media were prepared to identify Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli contamination. Microbial load was quantified using luminometry. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including measures of central tendency and dispersion.
Results: Following intervention with savory extract, microbial analysis revealed maximum Staphylococcus aureus contamination (33 CFU) on workers' hands in Restaurant C, while Restaurant J showed the lowest contamination level (16 CFU). Notably, alcohol-based intervention completely eliminated both S. aureus and E. coli contamination (0 CFU) across all sampled restaurants.
Conclusion: The findings demonstrate significant deficiencies in both food contact surface sanitation and worker hand hygiene across the studied restaurants, posing substantial public health risks. These results underscore the critical need for: (1) enhanced food safety training programs for food handlers, (2) strict personal hygiene protocols, and (3) rigorous regulatory inspections to mitigate potential health hazards.