Mycotoxin producing fungi and mycotoxins in foods in Hungary in the period 1994-2002

Our knowledge on the presence of mycotoxin producing fungi and mycotoxins in food commodities in the last decade in Hungary has been summarized in this review. Among the mycotoxin producing fungi, detailed data are available for Fusarium species in cereals, and mycotoxigenic Aspergillus species in different food commodities including coffee, raisins and spices. Ochratoxin concentrations above the tolerable limit have mostly been detected in imported products such as peanuts and coffee. Ochratoxin levels close to the tolerable limit have been observed in Hungarian red peppers. Besides, ochratoxin A has also been detected in Hungarian wine, beer and raisins. Aflatoxins are usually detected in considerable quantities only in imported agricultural products in Hungary, while patulin concentrations were usually below the allowable limit in Hungarian apple juice concentrates. In the future, continuous sampling and analysis of foods and feeds are required to ensure consumer safety in Hungary

Kinetics of ochratoxin a production in different Aspergillus species

Kinetics of ochratoxin A production was examined in a number of ochratoxin producing isolates representing different sections of the Aspergillus genus. Both weak and high ochratoxin producers were tested using immunochemical or high-performance liquid chromatograhic methods. All isolates were found to produce the highest amounts of ochratoxin A after 7–10 days of incubation. Ochratoxin production varied between 30 – 5×105 ng ml–1 among the Aspergillus isolates tested. The A. albertensis and A. melleus isolates examined were found to produce ochratoxin A constitutively. A. albertensis produced the highest amounts of ochratoxin A at 30 °C after 7 days’ incubation in YES liquid medium. Ergosterol content and ochratoxin production of A. albertensis cultures were in good correlation

Mycobiota and ochratoxin A in raisins purchased in Hungary

Ochratoxin A is a mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium species. This mycotoxin is a common contaminant of various foods including cereal products, spices, dried fruits, coffee, beer and wine. Besides cereal products, goods of grape origin contribute significantly to ochratoxin exposure of humans. The ochratoxin content and mycobiota of raisins purchased in Hungarian outlets were examined in this study. Ochratoxin A content was examined by an immunochemical technique, and the results were confirmed by HPLC analysis using fluorescent detection. Altogether 20 raisin samples were analyzed. Ochratoxin A was detected in all but two samples with ochratoxin concentrations ranging from 0 to 6.2 mg kg-1. The most heavily contaminated raisin sample came from Iran. However, none of the raisins contained ochratoxin A above 10 mg kg-1, the European Community maximum allowable limit in raisins. The mycobiota of raisin samples was also examined to clarify which species could be responsible for ochratoxin A contamination. All except three raisin samples were contaminated with black aspergilli, some of which produced ochratoxin A. Besides A. carbonarius, ochratoxin producing A. tubingensis isolates dominated in the samples

Detection of ochratoxin A in Hungarian wines and beers

Ochratoxin A is a mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium species. This mycotoxin is a common contaminant of various food products including cereal products, spices, dried fruits, coffee, beer and wine. Besides cereal products, beer and wine contribute significantly to ochratoxin exposure of humans. We examined the ochratoxin content of Hungarian wines and beers using an immunochemical technique. The detection limit of this technique is 0.01mg l-1. Altogether 65 wine and 25 beer samples were analysed. The presence of ochratoxin A was confirmed by HPLC in positive samples. Ochratoxin A was detected in 97.7% of wines, with ochratoxin concentrations ranging from 0 to 0.533mg l-1. The mean ochratoxin A concentration in wines was 0.110mg l-1. Only one of the Hungarian wines examined contained more than 0.5mg l-1 ochratoxin A, the previously suggested EU limit for wine. Our data indicate that red wines are more frequently contaminated, and have higher mean ochratoxin contamination (0.117mg ml-1) than white wines (0.0967mg ml-1), in accordance with previous observations. A North-South gradient in wine ochratoxin concentrations is not evident from our data. For beers, all but one of the samples was found to be contaminated with small amounts of ochratoxin A with a mean concentration of 0.127mg l-1 (range: 0.030-0.250mg l-1). Only one of the beers contained ochratoxin A above 0.2mg l-1, the anticipated European Community maximum allowable limit in beer. We could not detect correlation between the type and origin of beer and ochratoxin contamination

The immunosuppressive effect of Fusarium mycotoxin as a function of HLA antigens

We examined the blastogenic response to phytohaemaglutinin (PHA) in HLA-B8, DR3 positive and negative subjects in the presence or absence of the immunosuppressive Fusarium mycotoxin.  HLA-B8, DR3 haplotype was associated with a depression of the response to mitogen in the absence of the mycotoxin, whereas in the presence of deoxynivalenol we could not detect significant differences among individuals either possessing or lacking this haplotype

Mycobiota of grapes collected in Hungarian and Czech vineyards in 2004

Ochratoxin A is a mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium species. This mycotoxin is a common contaminant of various foods including cereal products, spices, dried vine fruits, coffee, cocoa, beer and wine. Apart from cereal products, beer and wine contribute significantly to ochratoxin exposure of humans. In the Mediterranean region of Europe, the black Aspergillus species are the sources of ochratoxin contamination of grape products. In this study, we examined the source of ochratoxin contamination of grapes in Hungary and the Czech Republic. The mycobiota of grape berries from 25 Hungarian and Czech vineyards was examined. Potential ochratoxin producing fungi were only identified in grapes from Southern Hungary. Among the 16 black Aspergillus strains isolated, 12 belong to the A. niger species, and 10 produced small amounts (1.5–10 μg kg−1) of ochratoxin A in a liquid medium. We could also identify an A. tubingensis isolate which produced 3.5 μg kg−1 ochratoxin A in a liquid medium at pH 6.0. However, the amount of ochratoxin A produced was very low even in a medium which is favourable for mycotoxin production, and ochratoxin A was not detected in any of the grape juice, must and wine samples examined, indicating the absence of health hazard to costumers. Other potentially toxigenic fungi including Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium expansum and Alternaria species were also isolated. Further studies are in progress to evaluate the importance of these fungi in food safety

Biodiversity of Aspergillus species in some important agricultural products

AbstractThe genus Aspergillus is one of the most important filamentous fungal genera. Aspergillus species are used in the fermentation industry, but they are also responsible of various plant and food secondary rot, with the consequence of possible accumulation of mycotoxins. The aflatoxin producing A. flavus and A. parasiticus, and ochratoxinogenic A. niger, A. ochraceus and A. carbonarius species are frequently encountered in agricultural products. Studies on the biodiversity of toxigenic Aspergillus species is useful to clarify molecular, ecological and biochemical characteristics of the different species in relation to their different adaptation to environmental and geographical conditions, and to their potential toxigenicity. Here we analyzed the biodiversity of ochratoxin producing species occurring on two important crops: grapes and coffee, and the genetic diversity of A. flavus populations occurring in agricultural fields. Altogether nine different black Aspergillus species can be found on grapes which are often difficult to identify with classical methods. The polyphasic approach used in our studies led to the identification of three new species occurring on grapes: A. brasiliensis, A. ibericus, and A. uvarum. Similar studies on the Aspergillus species occurring on coffee beans have evidenced in the last five years that A. carbonarius is an important source of ochratoxin A in coffee. Four new species within the black aspergilli were also identified in coffee beans: A. sclerotioniger, A. lacticoffeatus, A. sclerotiicarbonarius, and A. aculeatinus. The genetic diversity within A. flavus populations has been widely studied in relation to their potential aflatoxigenicity and morphological variants L- and S-strains. Within A. flavus and other Aspergillus species capable of aflatoxin production, considerable diversity is found. We summarise the main recent achievements in the diversity of the aflatoxin gene cluster in A. flavus populations, A. parasiticus and the non-toxigenic A. oryzae. Studies are needed in order to characterise the aflatoxin biosynthetic genes in the new related taxa A. minisclerotigenes and A. arachidicola