Capsicum products are widely commercialised and consumed worldwide. These substrates present unusual nutritional characteristics for microbial growth. Despite this, the presence of spoilage fungi and the co-occurrence of mycotoxins in the pepper production chain have been commonly detected. The main aim of this work was to review the critical control points, with a focus on mycotoxin contamination, during the production, storage and distribution of Capsicum products from a safety perspective; outlining the important role of ecophysiological factors in stimulating or inhibiting mycotoxin biosynthesis in these food commodities. Moreover, the human health risks caused by the ingestion of peppers contaminated with mycotoxins were also reviewed. Overall, Capsicum and its derivative-products are highly susceptible to contamination by mycotoxins. Pepper crop production and further transportation, processing and storage are crucial for production of safe food.
This work aims to provide the first study on the mycobiota present in Chilean pepper Capsicum annuum L. cv. "Cacho de Cabra" throughout the early production stages. Two hundred and forty berry fruits were sampled: 1) at the ripe fruits harvest day; 2) during drying; and 3) smoking processes. A total of 192 strains, encompassing 11 genera and 44 species, were identified through analysis of β-tubulin (benA) gene and internal transcribed spacer of ribosomal DNA (ITS) region. All collection points showed samples with high fungal contamination, but the mycobiota composition varied as a result of different environmental conditions. Alternaria spp. and Fusarium spp. were predominantly isolated from fresh fruits of C. annuum. Penicillium spp. was the most frequent genus in all analysed points. Penicillium brevicompactum and P. crustosum were the most abundant species. Among Aspergillus, A. niger and A. flavus were dominant after the drying phase. In our study, none of the analysed strains of Penicillium (113) and Aspergillus (35) produced Ochratoxin A at detectable levels. The broad characterization of the fungal community of C. annuum carried out in this study, could be a guideline for future mycotoxin analyses performed directly on the pod. Understanding the role and dynamics of mycobiota and its relationship with the toxins present in this substrate, will be useful to establish and improve control measures considering the specificities of each point in the C. annuum production chain.
A total of 307-samples of plant crops (both home-grown and imported) marketed in Portugal, including maize and maize-based products (132), wheat and wheat-based products (82), barley (25), soybean (53), sunflower (8) and alfalfa (7), were analyzed for the co-occurrence of the Fusarium toxins, zearalenone (ZEA) and deoxynivalenol (DON). Analysis for ZEA and DON was carried out by HPLC, with fluorescence and UV detection, respectively. Of the 307 samples, ZEA and DON co-occurred in 46 samples (co-occurrence of 15?); 84 samples were DON-positive and 171 were ZEA-positive. The mean ZEA and DON concentrations were 0.17 and 0.07 mg kg(-1), respectively. The highest levels found in the samples were 0.93 mg kg(-1) for ZEA and 17.9 mg kg(-1) for DON. One DON-positive and 13 ZEA-positive samples had contamination levels above the EU maximum legal limit.
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