Premium
Occurrence of ochratoxin A and toxigenic potential of fungal isolates from Spanish grapes
Author(s) -
Bellí Neus,
Pardo Ester,
Marín Sonia,
Farré Gemma,
Ramos Antonio J,
Sanchis Vicente
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.1658
Subject(s) - ochratoxin a , aspergillus , ochratoxins , wine , mycotoxin , ochratoxin , food science , potato dextrose agar , penicillium , biology , yeast , agar , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteria , biochemistry , genetics
This paper reports the results from an extensive survey of filamentous fungi isolated from wine‐producing grapes and their capacity to produce ochratoxin A (OTA) on Czapek Yeast Autolysate agar (CYA), in order to assess their potential for producing this toxin in grapes. Grapes were sampled from four Spanish wine‐producing regions during 2001. The fungal infection in berries increased with time, reaching 100% at harvest. A total of 386 isolates of Aspergillus section Nigri and 10 of Aspergillus section Circumdati were isolated and tested for their ability to produce OTA in CYA. 21 strains produced OTA (18 Aspergillus section Nigri and 3 Aspergillus section Circumdati ). Aspergillus section Circumdati isolates produced higher amounts of OTA than Aspergillus section Nigri ones, with means of 10.76 µg g −1 CYA and 1.42 µg g −1 CYA, respectively. Despite this, black aspergilli are believed to be highly responsible for the OTA levels found in musts and wines, as it is more widespread in grapes. Musts ( n = 40) produced from the grapes collected were analysed. 15% were found to contain OTA, concentrations ranging from 0.091 to 0.813 ng ml −1 (detection limit: 0.07 ng ml −1 ), but no correlation was found with the ochratoxigenic moulds isolated from grapes. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry