Certain species of Penicillium have been reported to produce the mycotoxin patulin, and research was undertaken to identify these with the use of oligonucleotide primer pairs. Species examined were found in food, plants, and soil and were reported to produce patulin. Penicillium expansum is the most commonly detected species linked to the presence of patulin in apple juice. At least 10 differen...

Chitin is a biopolymer. Theoretically, it is a homopolymer of acetyl-glucosamine. Chitosan is the deacetylated product of chitin. Chitin and chitosan have many applications in water purification, agriculture, food and pharmaceutical industries. Currently, industrial production for chitin and chitosan is from the shell wastes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of chitin...

Penicillium spp. are known to harbor a wide array of secondary metabolites with cryptic bioactivities. However, the metabolomics of these species is not well-understood in terms of different fermentation models and conditions. The present study involved metabolomics profiling and transcriptomic analysis of Penicillium expansum 40815 under solid-state fermentation (SSF) and submerged fermentatio...

The strains of the yeast Metschnikowia pulcherrima have strong biocontrol activity against various microorganisms. Biocontrol activity of M. pulcherrima largely depends on its iron immobilizing pigment pulcherrimin. Biocontrol activity of pulcherrimin producing strain, M. pulcherrima UMY15, isolated from local vineyards, was tested on different molds that cause food spoilage. M. pulcherrima UMY...

Air filters support fungal growth, leading to generation of conidia and volatile organic compounds, causing allergies, infections and food spoilage. Filters that inhibit fungi are therefore necessary. Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles have anti-fungal properties and therefore are good candidates for inhibiting growth. Two concentrations (0.012 M and 0.12 M) were used to coat two types of filters (...

AIMS To study the influence of culture preservation methods and culture conditions on the production of the mycotoxins patulin and citrinin by Penicillium expansum. METHODS AND RESULTS Ten strains of Penicillium expansum were preserved using subculture and maintenance at 4 degrees C, mineral oil, drying on silica gel and freeze-drying. Patulin and citrinin production was assessed on yeast ext...

A polygalacturonase (PG) was extracted and purified from decayed tissue of 'Anjou' pear fruit inoculated with Penicillium expansum. Ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration, and cation exchange chromatography were used to purify the enzyme. Both chromatographic methods revealed a single peak corresponding to PG activity. PG enzyme activity from healthy and wounded pear tissue was undetect...