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Qualitative Detection of Fungal Contamination in Paprika Powder
Author(s) -
Vyhnánek Tomáš,
Machálková Zuzana,
Trojan Václav,
Hanáček Pavel,
Šafránková Ivana,
Havel Ladislav
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of food safety
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.427
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1745-4565
pISSN - 0149-6085
DOI - 10.1111/jfs.12296
Subject(s) - contamination , biology , internal transcribed spacer , ascomycota , pepper , mycotoxin , microorganism , yeast , food science , bacteria , genetics , ecology , phylogenetic tree , gene
Dried red pepper is one of the most commonly used spices in many parts of the world. In this study molecular biology methods were applied for detection of contamination in nine samples of paprika powder. Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) regions were selected for sequencing as they have a high variability between species and organisms and therefore are an appropriate tool for taxonomic identification. The sequence analysis of the ITS regions were identified by high sequence similarity with the ITS regions of many microscopic fungi, especially representatives of the class Ascomycota and several other yeast species. This work was a qualitative rather than a quantitative detection, so the extent to which fungi and yeasts were present in the samples is unknown. However, supplied quality certificates (microbiological data) indicated the overall quality of samples. Harmful microorganisms were identified in the paprika powder samples and the likely mode of contamination was identified. Practical Application The presence of undesirable pathogens can be a serious problem for consumers, especially contamination by microscopic fungi that have the potential to produce mycotoxins. Today's conventional methods for determining contamination by microorganisms are time consuming and can be difficult to identify some less common types of pathogens. Fungal DNA (ITS regions) sequences of the class Ascomycetes were identified from samples of sweet and hot paprika powder.