Evaluation of hazard of aflatoxin B1, ochratoxin A and patulin production in dry-cured ham and early detection of producing moulds by qPCR

Natural occurrence of aflatoxin B1, ochratoxin A and citrinin in Croatian fermented meat products

“…Therefore, the exposure of human consumers may also be the result of mycotoxin synthesis during the product ripening stage. Indeed, several studies have shown that mould species belonging to Penicillium and Aspergillus genera can be isolated from meat products such as ripened sausages or drycured ham (Asefa et al, 2011;Iacumin et al, 2009;Rodríguez, Rodríguez, Martín, Nuñez, & Córdoba, 2012;Tabuc, Bailly, Bailly, Querin, & Guerre, 2004). This specific mycoflora enables the attainment of the desirable aroma and flavour of the product, but is usually complex and composed of many fungal species, out of which several may be toxigenic, at least in vitro.…”

Influence of temperature and substrate conditions on the omt-1 gene expression of Aspergillus parasiticus in relation to its aflatoxin production

“…Specifically, most strains of A. parasiticus are able to produce high concentrations of the most common forms of AF (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, and AFG2) (Schmidt-Heydt et al, 2010;Vaamonde et al, 2003;Wilkinson et al, 2007). Some strains of A. parasiticus produce AF in crops (Molyneux et al, 2007;Passone et al, 2010;Rodrigues et al, 2009), cereals and their derivatives (Zinedine et al, 2007), spices (Hernández-Hierro et al, 2009), cocoa (Copetti et al, 2011) and even in dry-cured meat products (Cvetnić and Pepeljnjak, 1995;Rodríguez et al, 2012c;Rojas et al, 1991). These species can produce these toxins in the field, throughout food processing, particularly during drying and even during storage (O'Brian et al, 2007;Abdel-Hadi et al, 2010;SchmidtHeydt et al, 2011).…”

“…In addition, it has been demonstrated that compounds such as tryptophan or substrates containing nitrogen affect strongly the expression of AF biosynthesis genes and subsequent AF production (Feng and Leonard, 1998;Wilkinson et al, 2007). Furthermore it should be considered that several ripened foods where production of AF has been reported, such as dry-cured ham (Rodríguez et al, 2012c), contain tryptophan as a consequence of proteolysis occurred in the ripening process (Córdoba et al, 1994). In addition, nitrate is commonly used in the former product as a preservative.…”

Ochratoxin A contamination of the autochthonous dry-cured meat product “Slavonski Kulen” during a six-month production process

“…These species are surface-inoculated because of their favourable influence on sausage aroma, texture and appearance. Moulds present in fermented meat products may not affect their organoleptic properties, but can produce mycotoxins that pose as a potential health hazard to consumers (Markov et al, 2013;Rodríguez et al, 2012). In the study by Frece et al (2010), Aspergillus sp.…”

“…Environmental conditions needed for mycotoxin production are generally more restrictive than those necessary for mould growth. Rodríguez, Rodríguez, Martín, Nuñez, and C ordoba (2012) pointed out that the analysis of mycotoxin production dynamics may be of great benefit for an early detection of toxigenic moulds before any toxins are actually produced.…”