Isolation of Aspergillus ochraceus and Production of Ochratoxin in Coffee Samples

Pandit, Pratikshya; Panta, Om Prakash; Karki, Tika Bahadur

doi:10.3126/njst.v15i1.12030

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 18 publications

(10 reference statements)

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“…This species, as well as A. niger , are widely distributed, and are present in dried foods, including dried fish, various dried beans and pulses, nuts and oilseeds ( Pitt and Hocking, 1997 ; Pitt and Hocking, 2009a ). The presence of both species in grapes and green coffee beans may lead to ochratoxin A production ( Mantle and Chow, 2000 ; Perrone et al, 2007 ; Pitt and Hocking, 2009a ; Pandit et al, 2014 ). Neither species is currently included for specific testing in cannabis, nor are Fusarium spp., although these fungi are known to produce a range of mycotoxins and both are frequently present in cannabis inflorescences ( Punja, 2021c ; Gwinn et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Total yeast and mold levels in high THC-containing cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) inflorescences are influenced by genotype, environment, and pre-and post-harvest handling practices

Punja,

Ni,

Lung

et al. 2023

Front. Microbiol.

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Total yeast and mold (TYM) levels in inflorescences of high THC-containing Cannabis sativa (cannabis) are regulated to ensure that medicinal and recreational users, especially those with immunocompromised systems, are not exposed to potentially harmful levels. In North America, the limits imposed range from 1,000–10,000 cfu/g of dried product to 50,000–100,000 cfu/g, depending on the jurisdiction. Factors affecting a build-up of TYM in cannabis inflorescences have not been previously researched. In this study, >2,000 fresh and dried samples were assayed for TYM over a 3-year period (2019–2022) to identify specific factors which can contribute to TYM levels. Greenhouse-grown inflorescences were sampled before and after commercial harvest, homogenized for 30 s, and plated onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) with 140 mg/L streptomycin sulfate. Colony-forming-units (cfu) were rated after 5 days of incubation at 23°C under 10–14 h light. PDA provided more consistent counts of cfu compared to Sabouraud dextrose and tryptic soy agars. The predominant fungal genera identified by PCR of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region of rDNA were Penicillium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, and Fusarium. In addition, four yeast genera were recovered. In total, 21 species of fungi and yeasts constituted the total cfu present in the inflorescences. The variables that significantly (p < 0.05) increased these TYM levels in inflorescences were: the genotype (strain) grown, presence of leaf litter in the greenhouse, harvesting activity by workers, genotypes with a higher abundance of stigmatic tissues and inflorescence leaves, higher temperature and relative humidity within the inflorescence microclimate, time of year (May–October), method of drying buds after harvest, and inadequate drying of buds. The variables which significantly (p < 0.05) decreased TYM in samples were: genotypes with lower numbers of inflorescence leaves, air circulation achieved by fans during inflorescence maturation, harvesting during November–April, hang-drying of entire inflorescence stems, and drying to a moisture content of 12–14% (water activity of 0.65–0.7) or lower which was inversely correlated with cfu levels. Under these conditions, the majority of dried commercial cannabis samples contained <1,000–5,000 cfu/g. Our findings indicate that TYM in cannabis inflorescences are the result of a dynamic interaction between genotype, environment, and post-harvest handling methods. Some of these factors may be altered by cannabis producers to reduce the potential build-up of these microbes. Among the 21 fungal and yeast species recovered from greenhouse-grown cannabis inflorescences, a few could pose a potential threat to human health, while many do not and they could provide beneficial interactions within the cannabis plant. The currently recommended plating methods onto agar media and enumeration of total cfu are unable to distinguish between these two groups.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Total yeast and mold levels in high THC-containing cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) inflorescences are influenced by genotype, environment, and pre-and post-harvest handling practices

Punja,

Ni,

Lung

et al. 2023

Front. Microbiol.

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“…As mentioned before, identification of Aspergillus section Circumdati species is especially difficult and requires the application of molecular techniques [8,12]. Some papers that have recently described these OTA-producing isolates have performed their identification based only on morphological characteristics, which has been demonstrated to be insufficient [27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. Therefore, it might be possible that they were misidentified and were not really A. ochraceus, but instead other species, such as A. steynii or A. westerdijkiae, that are more relevant OTA producers in foodstuffs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Genomic Regions That Contain Ochratoxin A Biosynthetic Genes Widely Differ in Aspergillus Section Circumdati Species

Gil-Serna

Vázquez

Patiño

2020

Toxins

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Aspergillus section Circumdati includes 27 species, some of which are considered ochratoxin A (OTA) producers. However, there is considerable controversy about their potential OTA synthesis ability. In this work, the complete genomes of 13 species of Aspergillus section Circumdati were analyzed in order to study the cluster of OTA biosynthetic genes and the region was compared to those previously reported in A. steynii and A. westerdijkiae. The results obtained reveal that the genomes of some species in this section, including A. affinis, A. cretensis, A. elegans, A. muricatus, A. pulvericola, A. roseoglobulosus, and A. subramanianii, contain a potentially functional OTA biosynthetic cluster. Therefore, they might be able to synthesize the toxin. On the contrary, A. melleus, A. ochraceus, A. ostianus, A. persii, A. sclerotiorum, A. sesamicola, and A. westlandensis contain a truncated version of the cluster that lacks many of the genes involved in OTA biosynthesis, which might be related to their inability to produce OTA. The gain/loss pattern is different in all species, which suggests that the genetic evolution of this region might be due to independent events.

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“…However, there are efforts that we can do to maximize the antifungal power against A. ochraceus that is incubating at low temperatures (below 8⁰C) or high temperatures (higher than 40⁰C). This fungus species proved unable to grow in such temperature range in culture media (Pandit et al, 2014).…”

Section: Antifungal Activity Of Chitosan From Pila Ampullaceamentioning

confidence: 97%

PREPARATION AND ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITIES OF CHITOSAN FROM APPLE-SNAIL (Pila ampullacea) SHELLS AS PRESERVING AGENT FOR POSTHARVEST PODANG MANGO (Mangifera indica L.) cv Podang

Ningrum

Ramadani

Rosalina

et al. 2021

IJAR

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Podang mango, an endemic mango from Kediri, has a short post-harvest shelf life that accelerates by physiological factors and pathogenic fungal contamination. Chitosan reported as an active compound for coating. The apple-snail was reported to contain chitosan in its shell. The purposes of this study are to synthesis chitosan from Pila ampullacea, examine anti-fungal activities to Fusarium oxysporum and Aspergillus ochraceus, and verify the effect of chitosan coating on shelf life and quality of Podang mango. The effect of chitosan coating on fruit quality was analyzed using three treatments which were negative control, chitosan, and chitosan-gelatin with 3 replications. The parameters measured were color, texture, aroma, water content, vitamin C, and weight loss. Results showed that chitosan synthesized from P. ampullacea had 53.56 degrees of deacetylation. Antifungal activity test of chitosan 2% had the highest inhibitory activity against F.oxysporum and A.ochraceus growth with 14.46 mm and 10.33 mm inhibition zone. Coating with chitosan statistically affected fruit quality for 14 days of storage (sig <0.05). Chitosan-gelatin coating is the best treatment in reducing weight loss (8.97%), maintain aroma (sweet fragrance), texture (soft), water content (84%), and vitamin C (0.182%), while the color (reddish yellow) was more influenced by Chitosan coating. Chitosan coated with gelatin is recommended for application on Podang mangoes.

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Isolation of Aspergillus ochraceus and Production of Ochratoxin in Coffee Samples

Cited by 7 publications

References 18 publications

Total yeast and mold levels in high THC-containing cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) inflorescences are influenced by genotype, environment, and pre-and post-harvest handling practices

Total yeast and mold levels in high THC-containing cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) inflorescences are influenced by genotype, environment, and pre-and post-harvest handling practices

The Genomic Regions That Contain Ochratoxin A Biosynthetic Genes Widely Differ in Aspergillus Section Circumdati Species

PREPARATION AND ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITIES OF CHITOSAN FROM APPLE-SNAIL (Pila ampullacea) SHELLS AS PRESERVING AGENT FOR POSTHARVEST PODANG MANGO (Mangifera indica L.) cv Podang

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