A natural lactic fermentation of ground grain sorghum produced significant increases (P < 0.001) in available lysine/leucine, isoleutine, and methionine. The protein quality, expressed as relative nutritive value, increased significantly (P < 0.001) as a result of fermentation. Niacin and thiamin increased significantly (P < 0.001) and riboflavin also increased (P < 0.05) during the fermentation. Protein and carbohydrate appeared to be more available after the fermentation than before the fermentation. Although the fermentation produced increased availability of nutrients, it did not produce change in the proximate analyses.

A raw fish-juice was prepared and sterilized through the use of ttCo y-irradiation. It was evaluated for suitability in an agar medium for testing the proteolytic activity of bacteria isolated from fish. Microorganism proteolytic activity was also detected by conventional methods with skim milk-agar. We tested 1,145 isolates from fresh and spoiling irradiated (0.0, 0.3, and 0.6 Mrad) yellow perch fillets for proteolytic activity, by the use of both media. Most isolates that showed proteolytic activity exhibited this activity in both media. A few isolates showed proteolytic activity only in one medium or the other. Proteolysis was found mainly among bacteria isolated from nonirradiated perch fillets. Nonproteolytic organisms were slightly more abundant than were proteolytic ones throughout refrigerated storage (6 days); the latter constituted 48% of the total organisms. Irradiation eliminated essentially all proteolytic bacteria when the fillets were stored at 1 C. However, some proteolytic bacteria survived for a few days after irradiation when the fillets were stored at 5 C.

Sporothrix schenckii, a fungus which is pathogenic to humans, was recovered from imported desiccated black fungus mushrooms [Auricularia polytrichia (Mont.) Sacc.] usually used in preparing Far Eastern cuisine. Identification was based on microscopic and gross morphology, dimorphism at 25 and 37°C and reactivity with fluorescein-labeled antibodies specific for the yeast-cell form of the fungus. This is the first known report of S. schenckii in or on edible mushrooms.

A raw fish-juice was prepared and sterilized through the use of 60 Co γ-irradiation. It was evaluated for suitability in an agar medium for testing the proteolytic activity of bacteria isolated from fish. Microorganism proteolytic activity was also detected by conventional methods with skim milk-agar. We tested 1,145 isolates from fresh and spoiling irradiated (0.0, 0.3, and 0.6 Mrad) yellow perch fillets for proteolytic activity, by the use of both media. Most isolates that showed proteolytic activity exhibited this activity in both media. A few isolates showed proteolytic activity only in one medium or the other. Proteolysis was found mainly among bacteria isolated from nonirradiated perch fillets. Nonproteolytic organisms were slightly more abundant than were proteolytic ones throughout refrigerated storage (6 days); the latter constituted 48% of the total organisms. Irradiation eliminated essentially all proteolytic bacteria when the fillets were stored at 1 C. However, some proteolytic bacteria survived for a few days after irradiation when the fillets were stored at 5 C.

Desiccated mushrooms, seaweed, rice sticks and anchovies imported from the Orient were obtained from commercial sources or from products detained by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and examined for pathogenic fungi. The etiological agents isolated were mycelial and yeast fungi known to produce deep sporotrichosis, phaeohyphomycosis, mycetoma, chromoblastomycosis, candidosis and cryptococcosis. Other fungi isolated were opportunistic fungi and/or producers of mycotoxins. Total mold counts in the foods examined varied from 2 × 102 to 5 × 106. The predominant pathogens in the mushrooms were Sporothrix schenckii and Wangiella dermatitidis, and counts in the mushrooms imported from Thailand and Taiwan were as high as 1 × 106; however, these pathogens were not isolated from rice sticks, seaweed or anchovies. All presumed pathogenic strains were pathogenic for mice by intraperitoneal injection of 1 × 106 to 107 conidia in saline suspension. It was concluded that food can harbor “virulent” fungal pathogens and potentially opportunistic invaders as well as potentially toxigenic fungi.

The effect of amino acids on sporulation is discussed. Heat-resistant spores were produced in a chemically defined medium.

A fungus resembling the human pathogen Wangiella dermatitidis (Kano) McGinnis, a dematiaceous hyphomycete, was recovered from imported desiccated "black fungus" mushrooms (Auricularia polytrichia (Mont.) Sacc.), a food item popular in Far Eastern cuisine. Except for its conidia, which are mostly reniform to allantoid rather than ovoid as is characteristic for W. dermatitidis, and the undecided mode of conidiogenesis, the isolate closely resembles W. dermatitidis in gross and microscopic morphology, thermotolerance, and general and neurotrophic infectivity patterns in mice injected intraperitoneally. The foodborne isolate was also infective for infant mice inoculated by oral intubation. The systematic position of the isolate is still under investigation. There has been no previous report of W. dermatitidis or of a fungus resembling it occurring in or on foods or of the infectivity of a fungus for a mammalian host by oral intubation.

Male weanling rats fed diets containing fermented and unfermented tannin-free sorghum meals naturally contaminated with traces of ochratoxin A, zearalenone, and an unidentified toxic substance developed anorexia. Mean changes in body weight over a 28-day feeding period for rats fed fermented and unfermented sorghum meal and ANCR casein diets of 8% protein were-2.8, + 13.8, and + 100.5 g, respectively. Rats fed fermented sorghum meal developed alopecia; hematological findings showed a decreased mean corpuscular volume, hypochromic microcytosis, balanced leukopenia, and hypoproteinuria. Histological findings showed testicular hypoplasia of the germinal epithelium and no mature spermatozoa. Necrosis and mineralization in Henle's loop were also observed. No damage was apparent to the liver, cerebellum, cerebrum, spleen, or adrenal glands.