The genera Aspergillus comprises species that produce mycotoxins such as aflatoxins, ochratoxins and patulin. These are cosmopolitan species, natural contaminants of agricultural products. In coffee grains, the most important Aspergillus species in terms of the risk of presenting mycotoxins belong to the genera Aspergillus Section Circumdati and Section Nigri. The purpose of this study was to a...

Nigella sativa (N. sativa) grows in various parts of the world, particularly in Iran. It has been traditionally used as a folk remedy to treat a number of diseases. The seeds of this plant contain moisture, proteins, carbohydrates, crude fiber, alkaloids, saponins, ash, fixed oils and essential oil. The major components of the essential oil are thymoquinone, p-cymene, trans-anethole, 2-methyl-5...

This study aimed to assess the occurrence of toxigenic fungi and mycotoxin contamination in stored wheat grains by using advanced molecular and analytical techniques. A multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) strategy was established for rapid identification of mycotoxigenic fungi, and an improved analytical method was developed for simultaneous multi-mycotoxin determination in wheat grains b...

The bacterium Helicobacter pylori exhibits great genetic diversity, and the pathogenic roles of its virulence factors have been widely studied. However, the evolutionary dynamics of H. pylori strains during stomach colonization are not well-characterized. Here, we analyzed the microevolutionary dynamics of the toxigenic strain vacAs1m1, the non-toxigenic strain vacAs2m2, and a combination of bo...

Our study was aimed to evaluate antifungal, antiaflatoxin, and antioxidant potential of Mentha pulegium, Myrtus communis, piperita essential oils (EOs). The EOs showed efficacy as a couscous preservative. A total 387 fungal species were isolated from Couscous samples, with Aspergillus flavus BN (20) which is identified the highest aflatoxin producer. minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) M. pu...

This study was undertaken with an aim of exploring the effectiveness of medicinal plant extracts in the control of aflatoxin production. Antifungal properties, photosensitization, and phytochemical composition of aqueous and organic extracts of fruits from Solanum aculeastrum, bark from Syzygium cordatum, and leaves from Prunus africana, Ocimum lamiifolium, Lippia kituiensis, and Spinacia olera...

We analyzed 79 bulk samples of moldy interior finishes from Finnish buildings with moisture problems for 17 mycotoxins, as well as for fungi that could be isolated using one medium and one set of growth conditions. We found the aflatoxin precursor, sterigmatocystin, in 24% of the samples and trichothecenes in 19% of the samples. Trichothecenes found included satratoxin G or H in five samples; d...

BACKGROUND Weather conditions can selectively promote the growth of particular fungal species, which cause rotting and spoilage of grape berries before harvest. The presence of pathogenic fungi can lead to the development of opportunist microfungi that can produce mycotoxins and cause grapes and wine contamination. OBJECTIVE The variation of climatic conditions allowed to design a pilot study...

The aim of this study was to determine the mycoflora of poultry feeds and evaluate the aflatoxin and ochratoxins producing ability of isolated Aspergillus species. One hundred and nineteen samples of commercially prepared and farm mixed feeds were collected during 20052007. The samples were inoculated on potato dextrose agar, Czapek dox solution agar, Czapek yeast autolysate agar and yeast extr...

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is the main mycotoxin that has been detected in coffee. The occurrence of OTA in coffee beans can be because of environmental conditions and/or processing conditions. Three coffee processes were evaluated (wet, mechanical and dry processes), at different stages from harvesting to storage, and fungi producing OTA were enumerated and identified. The frequency of potential OTA-p...