An investigation of fungal contamination on the surface of medicinal herbs in China

Zheng, Rujie; Wang, Wenli; Tan, Jin; Xu, Hui; Zhan, Renya; Chen, Weiwen

doi:10.1186/s13020-016-0124-7

Cited by 34 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Mildewed medicinal herbs were markedly contaminated with fungi. Overall, Aspergillus and Penicillium were the most frequent contaminants, concurrent with previous findings [18,19]. Reproduction in Aspergillus spp.…”

Section: Fungal Contaminationsupporting

confidence: 86%

Occurrence and Characterization of Fungi and Mycotoxins in Contaminated Medicinal Herbs

Chen

Guo

Zheng

et al. 2020

Toxins

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Traditional medicinal herbs are widely used and may be contaminated with mycotoxigenic fungi during cultivation, harvesting, and storage, causing spoilage and mycotoxin production. We evaluated the predominant mycoflora and extent of mycotoxin contaminations in 48 contaminated samples of 13 different medicinal herbs. In total, 70.8% of herbs were slightly contaminated with aflatoxins (<5 μg kg−1). Codonopsis radix samples contained ochratoxin A (OTA) (360–515 μg kg−1), and Scutellariae radix samples contained OTA (49–231 μg kg−1) and citrinin (15–53 μg kg−1). Forty samples (83.3%) contained fungal contamination. Sixty-nine strains were characterized via morphological and molecular identification. The predominant mycoflora comprised four genera, Aspergillus spp. (26.1%), Penicillium spp. (24.6%), Rhizopus spp. (14.5%), and Trichoderma spp. (11.6%). Aflatoxins, OTA, and citrinin were detected in 37 cultures by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Approximately 21.6% of Aspergillus and Penicillium isolates produced mycotoxins. One Penicillium polonicum strain isolated from Scutellariae radix synthesized citrinin. Multiplex PCR analysis showed that three Aspergillus flavus strains harbored aflatoxin biosynthesis genes. One Aspergillus flavus strain isolated from Amomi fructus produced AFB1 and AFB2. To the best of our knowledge, the citrinin production by Aspergillus chevalieri and Penicillium sacculum was first reported in this study, which poses a potential risk of mycotoxin contamination in medicinal herbs.

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Section: Fungal Contaminationsupporting

confidence: 86%

Occurrence and Characterization of Fungi and Mycotoxins in Contaminated Medicinal Herbs

Chen

Guo

Zheng

et al. 2020

Toxins

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“…and Trichosporium species were also present (Anyanwu, 2010). Similar to this study, is the findings of Zheng et al (2017) which revealed that the surface of medicinal herbs are predominantly contaminated with species of Aspergillus and Penicillium.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Fungal metagenomes in polyherbal medicines used for the treatment of tuberculosis

Famewo¹,

Clarke²,

Afolayan³

2018

J. Pharmacognosy Phytother.

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The traditional systems of medicine have significantly become more accepted in the developed and developing countries due to their curative property, less toxicity and minimal side effects. However, several studies have shown that they are associated with microbial contaminants. This study aimed at identifying fungi in nine polyherbal medicines used for the treatment of tuberculosis in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Sequences of fungi DNA that encodes internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region were retrieved from the remedies. The ITS region of the fungal rRNA operon was amplified using ITS1 and ITS4 primers. The amplicons were visualized on agarose gel electrophoresis, followed by end repair and adaptor ligation. They were further purified and quantified using Library Preparation kit NEBNext® UltraT DNA Library Prep Kit for illumina and run on illumina's MiSeq platform. The study revealed that the polyherbal medicines are contaminated with fungi species. The predominant mycoflora obtained belongs to different genera or species of fungi. They include Aspergillus, Penicillium, Alternaria, Candida, Ramularia, Cladosporium and Malassezia among others. Some of these organisms are capable of causing infections in immunocompromised patients. Thus, the study identified various fungal contaminants in polyherbal remedies sold to tuberculosis patients in five communities in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.

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“…Kong et al [4] also found that 14 functional foods and 10 spices from Chinese markets are infected by molds. Zheng et al [34] also showed the widespread fungal contamination in 15 medicinal herbs collected from China. Meanwhile, Su et al [35] found that 48 samples of eight root herbs from Chinese markets are all contaminated by fungi.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast to previous studies, Penicillium species were detected at relatively low abundances (<1%) in all ZSS samples, except for the LY01 sample (7.77%). The relationship between fungal species and herbal materials cannot be fully explained owing to the complicated contamination reasons [34,36]. Aspergillus and Penicillium species were the principal storage fungi [36].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of the Fungal Community in Ziziphi Spinosae Semen through High-Throughput Sequencing

Guo

Jiang

Luo

et al. 2018

Toxins

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Ziziphi Spinosae Semen (ZSS) has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine system for decades. Under proper humidity and temperature, ZSS is easily contaminated by fungi and mycotoxins during harvest, storage, and transport, thereby posing a considerable threat to consumer health. In this study, we first used the Illumina MiSeq PE250 platform and targeted the internal transcribed spacer 2 sequences to investigate the presence of fungi in moldy and normal ZSS samples collected from five producing areas in China. Results showed that all 14 samples tested were contaminated by fungi. Ascomycota was the dominant fungus at the phylum level, accounting for 64.36–99.74% of the fungal reads. At the genus level, Aspergillus, Candida, and Wallemia were the most predominant genera, with the relative abundances of 13.52–87.87%, 0.42–64.56%, and 0.06–34.31%, respectively. Meanwhile, 70 fungal taxa were identified at the species level. Among these taxa, three potential mycotoxin-producing fungi, namely, Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, and Penicillium citrinum that account for 0.30–36.29%, 0.04–7.37%, and 0.01–0.80% of the fungal reads, respectively, were detected in all ZSS samples. Moreover, significant differences in fungal communities were observed in the moldy and normal ZSS samples. In conclusion, our results indicated that amplicon sequencing is feasible for the detection and analysis of the fungal community in the ZSS samples. This study used a new approach to survey the fungal contamination in herbal materials. This new approach can provide early warning for mycotoxin contamination in herbal materials, thereby ensuring drug efficacy and safety.

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An investigation of fungal contamination on the surface of medicinal herbs in China

Cited by 34 publications

References 30 publications

Occurrence and Characterization of Fungi and Mycotoxins in Contaminated Medicinal Herbs

Occurrence and Characterization of Fungi and Mycotoxins in Contaminated Medicinal Herbs

Fungal metagenomes in polyherbal medicines used for the treatment of tuberculosis

Analysis of the Fungal Community in Ziziphi Spinosae Semen through High-Throughput Sequencing

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