Mycobiota of ground red pepper and their aflatoxigenic potential

Abstract

To investigate contamination of ground red pepper with fungi and mycotoxin, we obtained 30 ground red pepper samples from 15 manufacturers in the main chili-pepper-producing areas in Korea. Fungal contamination was evaluated by spreading diluted samples on potato dextrose agar plates. The total fungi counts ranged from 0 to 7.3 × 10 CFU/g. In the samples, the genus Aspergillus had the highest incidence, while Paecilomyces was isolated most frequently. The next most frequent genera were Rhizopus, Penicillium, Cladosporium, and Alternaria. Within Aspergillus, A. ruber was predominant, followed by A. niger, A. amstelodami, A. ochraceus, A. terreus, A. versicolor, A. flavus, and A. fumigatus. The samples were analyzed for aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, and citrinin by ultra-perfomance liquid chromatography (UPLC) with a fluorescence detector. Ochratoxin A was detected from three samples at 1.03‒2.08 μg/kg, whereas no aflatoxins or citrinin were detected. To test the potential of fungal isolates to produce aflatoxin, we performed a PCR assay that screened for the norB-cypA gene for 64 Aspergillus isolates. As a result, a single 800-bp band was amplified from 10 A. flavus isolates, and one Aspergillus sp. isolate. UPLC analyses confirmed aflatoxin production by nine A. flavus isolates and one Aspergillus sp. isolate, which produced total aflatoxins at 146.88‒909.53 μg/kg. This indicates that continuous monitoring of ground red pepper for toxigenic fungi is necessary to minimize mycotoxin contamination.

Mycobiota in Chilean chilli Capsicum annuum L. used for production of Merkén

“…3). These species, among others belonging to sections Nigri and Flavi, have been shown to be predominant fungal contaminants in Capsicum pods and derivative products, being associated with the presence of mycotoxins in such food items (Chuaysrinule et al, 2020;Costa et al, 2019b;Frimpong et al, 2019;Ham et al, 2016).…”

“…As expected, high-quality of Merkén is directly linked to a selection of high-quality pods (FIA, 2010). However, research on mycobiota, including mycotoxigenic species, was carried out predominantly on chilli powder and other chilli by-products (Atanda et al, 1990;Casquete et al, 2017;Ham et al, 2016;Ruiz-Moyano et al, 2009;Santos et al, 2011;Tančinová et al, 2014). To date, few studies have reported the mycobiota of C. annuum berry fruits and none has described it in all stages of production (da Cruz Cabral et al, 2016;Frimpong et al, 2019;Haruna et al, 2017).…”

Human Pathogenic Paecilomyces from Food

“…Dairy products, such as pasteurized milk, cream cheese, and heat-treated dairy beverages, are also spoiled by these species [20]. Furthermore, spices and herbs, including ground red pepper are easily contaminated by fungi, Paecilomyces among them, producing mycotoxins harmful to humans and animals [21]. Studies have provided evidence of the potential risk of long-term storage of maize seeds infected with Paecilomyces species [22,23], but the adverse human health effects are still unknown.…”

Assessment of Microbiological Quality and Mycotoxin in Dried Chili by Morphological Identification, Molecular Detection, and Chromatography Analysis

“…For instance, Turkey and Europe set the legal limits of AFs in ground red chili pepper for total AFB 1 and total AFS of 5 and 10 µg/kg, respectively [41,42]. In Korea, the maximum limit for ground red pepper of total AFB 1 , total AFs, and OTA were 10, 15, and 7 ng/g [28]. In Indonesia, the legal limit for AFB 1 , AFs, and OTA on chili has not yet established.…”

“…In Iran, mold and yeast contamination was between 24 × 10 3 and 4600 × 10 3 CFU/g in Iranian red pepper spice [27]. In Korea, fungal contamination in ground red pepper was 7.3 × 10 3 CFU/g [28]. The contamination level for the traditional market on average (142 × 10 3 CFU/g) was not significantly different from that purchased from the modern market (87 × 10 3 CFU/g).…”