Compiled and Edited by Food Science Australia Produced and Published by the Aciar Postharvest Technology Program

Mycotoxins – General THIEL, P.G. 1998. The role of natural toxins in environmental pollution. South African Journal of Science 94: 419–422. The importance of some natural toxins, in particular aflatoxins, fumonisins and microcystins, is discussed in relation to other environmental pollutants. In rural populations in developing countries the hazards posed by these toxins can exceed the effects of manmade chemicals. SWEENEY, M.J. and DOBSON, A.D.W. 1998. Mycotoxin production by Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium species. International Journal of Food Microbiology 43: 141–158. This review with 144 references discusses the mycotoxins produced by the most significant species in the genera Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium in relation to food safety. The review covers their chemical structures and biosynthetic pathways, physiological factors affecting production, the genetics of mycotoxin production and microbial degradation of mycotoxins. MUNKVOLD, G., STAHR, H.M., LOGRIECO, A., MORETTI, A. and RITIENI, A. 1998. Occurrence of fusaproliferin and beauvericin in Fusarium-contaminated livestock feed in Iowa. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 64: 3923–3926. Fusarium fungal contaminants and related mycotoxins were investigated in 8 maize feed samples from Iowa, USA. Fusarium moniliforme, F. proliferatum and F. subglutinans were isolated from 7, 8 and 5 samples, respectively. Fusaproliferin was detected at concentrations of 0.1 to 30 mg/ kg in 4 samples and beauvericin was detected at 0.1 to 3.0 mg/kg in 5 samples. Fumonisins were detected in all 8 samples at 1.1 to 14.0 mg/kg. Ten of 11 strains of F. proliferatum and all 12 strains of F. subglutinans produced fusaproliferin in culture on whole maize kernels. Nine F. proliferatum strains also produced beauvericin in culture. Fumonisin B1 was produced by all nine F. moniliforme strains and by 10 of the F. proliferatum strains. This is the first report of the natural occurrence of fusaproliferin outside Italy and of the natural occurrence of beauvericin in North America. AZIZ, N.H., YOUSSEF, Y.A., EL FOULY, M.Z. and MOUSSA, L.A. 1998. Contamination of some common medicinal plant samples and spices by fungi and their mycotoxins. Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica 39: 279–285. A total of 84 medicinal plant samples and spices collected in Egypt were examined for the presence of moulds and mycotoxins. Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus, A. niger, Fusarium oxysporum and Penicillium viridicatum occurred most frequently on the medicinal plant samples. In medicinal plant samples, aflatoxin B1 was detected in 17 samples at an average of 10 to 160 μg/kg and ochratoxin A was detected in 3 samples at an average of 20 to 80 μg/kg. ETCHEVERRY, M., MAGNOLI, C., DALCERO, A., CHULZE, S. and LECUMBERRY, S. 1998. Aflatoxin B1, zearalenone and deoxynivalenol production by Aspergillus parasiticus and Fusarium graminearum in interactive cultures on irradiated corn kernels. Mycopathologia 142: 37–42. The influence of inoculum size on the production of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), zearalenone (ZEA) and deoxynivalenol (DON) was determined when Aspergillus parasiticus NRRL 3000 and Fusarium graminearum ITEM 124 were cultured alone and in pairs on irradiated corn kernels at 28°C and 0.97 water activity. When A. parasiticus was co-inoculated with F. graminearum both at the same inoculum size (106 spores/mL), AFB1 production decreased by 60, 72 and 56% at 10, 20 and 35 days of incubation, respectively. When the A. parasiticus inoculum was 103 spores/mL and F. graminearum 106 spores/mL, the percentage of inhibition of AFB1 was around 99% during all the incubation. When the A. parasiticus inoculum was 106 spores/mL and F. graminearum 103 spores/mL, AFB1 production decreased by 80, 94 and 86% at 10, 20 and 35 days of incubation respectively. In paired cultures, ZEA and DON production by F. graminearum was not significantly affected regardless of the spore concentrations at inoculation. PRASONGSIDH, B.C., KAILASAPATHY, K., SKURRAY, G.R. and BRYDEN, W.L. 1997. Stability of cyclopiazonic acid during storage and processing of milk. Food Research International 30: 793–798. The stability of cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) at 1 mg/L in raw or processed milk during storage at 4°C was investigated. CPA decreased by 1.4% following 4 days of simulating collecting, storing and transporting of raw milk. Storage at 4°C for 21 days, simulating retail milk, reduced the CPA level by 5.8%. In frozen and freeze dried milk stored at –18°C, less than 12% of CPA decreased during a storage period of 140 days. Simulating unsweetened condensed milk production by preheating contaminated milk to 100°C and concentrating under steam injection, resulted in a decrease in CPA of 39.7%. In contrast, very little CPA (0.7%) was lost from the production of evaporated milk using low temperature (60°C) heating under vacuum to remove water. CPA was stable in both concentrated and evaporated milks throughout an 8 weeks storage period at 4°C. There was no decrease of CPA during the manufacturing of milk powder by spray drying.