Vita Raudoniene | PubMed Health

PubMed2006

Toxic micromycetes in grain raw material during its processing.

In 2003-2005 micromycetes were isolated and identified from wheat, barley, rye, buckwheat grain brought into mills or from processing enterprises. Contamination of the produced flour with micromycete propagules (cfu g(-1)), changes in micromycete diversity and abundance in the course of flour storage, preparation and baking of bread, production of groats or other food products and fodder were determined. Most attention was given to widely distributed micromycetes, known producers of toxins: Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus candidus, A. clavatus, A. flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, A. oryzae, A. (=Eurotium) repens, Fusarium culmorum, F. equiseti, F. graminearum, F. moniliforme, F. oxysporum, F. poae, F. sporotrichioides, Penicillium brevicompactum, P. chrysogenum, P. cyclopium, P. daleae, P. expansum, P. funiculosum, P. roqueforti, P. urticae, P. verruculosum, P. viridicatum, Phoma exiqua, Rhizomucor pusillus, Rhizopus stolonifer, Trichothecium roseum. Abilities of these micromycetes to produce secondary toxic metabolites were determined as well as possible hazard caused to people consuming the contaminated products.

Consumer Product Safety↗

PubMed2005

Toxin producing micromycetes on imported products of plant origin.

Recently the food of people is profusely supplemented with vegetables and fruit imported from various regions. Investigations on the mycological state of imported foodstuffs revealed that the marketed vegetables, fresh, dried and frozen fruit are contaminated with propagules of various micromycetes. The obtained results allow the conclusion that vegetables and fruit can become a good substrate for mycotoxin producing micromycetes. The micromycetes develop on everyday products and can become the cause of slow toxicoses, which are characterized by a diversity of symptoms and are difficult to diagnose. Therefore, contamination of food products with micromycetes of the Penicillium, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Alternaria, Paecilomyces, Trichotecium, Rhizopus genera should receive particular attention. It should be noted that a strain growing on a particular type of vegetable or fruit could synthesize and excrete different toxic secondary metabolites.

Food Microbiology↗