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Influence of aflatoxin in Nuruk on the safety of starch‐based alcoholic beverage
Author(s) -
Yun Jeonghyun,
Kim Jae Ho,
Lee JangEun
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of food science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1750-3841
pISSN - 0022-1147
DOI - 10.1111/1750-3841.15050
Subject(s) - food science , aflatoxin , chemistry , fermentation , aspergillus flavus , microorganism , biology , bacteria , genetics
Nuruk is a fermentation agent used to manufacture alcoholic beverages, which contains a variety of microorganisms. Most microorganisms in Nuruk are useful for the production of alcoholic beverages; however, Nuruk can be infected with Aspergillus flavus , which produces aflatoxin (AF). Therefore, this study analyzed total AF concentrations in Nuruk , the transfer of AF from Nuruk to alcoholic beverages, and AF‐producing microorganisms to determine the safety of alcoholic beverages with respect to this toxin. ELISA showed that total AF levels in 14 of 61 Nuruk samples exceeded 15 ppb, the Korean permissible level in cereal products. In alcoholic beverages produced with Nuruk containing AF levels >15 ppb, only AF G 1 was detected, at a level of 0.3 ppb, and the transfer ratio of AF G 1 was approximately 1.2% to 1.3%. The dominant genera in Nuruk were Aspergillus and Rhizopus . Among 30 strains belonging to Aspergillus , 10 produced only AF B 1 at levels of 0.1 to 2.4 ppb after incubation at 25 °C for 8 days on potato dextrose agar plates. Although AF in Nuruk was rarely transferred to alcoholic beverages and the aflatoxigenic strains were found to possess poor AF‐producing capacity, further efforts to reduce AF in Nuruk are needed to ensure the safety of alcoholic beverages.