Fungal contamination and mycotoxin-producing potential of dried beans

Abstract

A total of 604 samples of about 7 different types of beans was examined to determine their mycological profiles, and suitability for use as solid substrates for mycotoxin production. All of the samples were collected from bean jam makers in Tokyo by the official food examiners. Genera Penicillium and Aspergillus were predominant, and genus Wallemia was also found commonly in all types of beans. Mycotoxin-producing Aspergillus strains were isolated from 52 samples of beans, approximately 9% of the total. The highest incidence of toxigenic Aspergillus (14.1%) was found in kidney beans. Red beans and peas inoculated with Aspergillus ochraceus were found to produce about 7 to 8 times more toxin than was obtained in a liquid medium. and red beans inoculated with A. versicolor produced more toxin than was obtained in yeast extract sucrose broth. Green peas inoculated with Fusarium graminearum produced about 8 times more T-2 toxin than was obtained in 1% peptone containing Czapek solution under comparable culture conditions.

Qualidade microbiológica das plantas medicinais produzidas no Estado do Paraná

“…Hitokoto et al (1978) demonstraram que fungos dos gêneros Penicillium, Aspergillus, Rhizopus, Mucor, Cladosporium e Aureobasidium spp. encontram-se freqüentemente associados à drogas vegetais; no entanto, fungos produtores de micotoxinas somente foram encontrados em um nível de 2%.…”

Aflatoxin in Agricultural Commodities and Herbal Medicine

“…They found no contamination with aflatoxins (Romagnoli, Menna, Gruppioni, & Bergamini, 2007). In a study by Hitokoto et al, aflatoxins were not detected in the 49 powdered herbal drugs (Hitokoto, Morozumi, Wauke, Sakai, & Kurata, 1978). Ten percent of the tablets of Cascara sagrada dried bark were contaminated with aflatoxins in Argentina (Trucksess & Scott, 2008).…”

Contamination of Asian herbal drugs : Need for its critical evaluation

“…The presence of fungal species in crude herbal drugs and their role in spoilage of crude drug was reported by Matsushima et al (1957). Hitoshi et al (1978) reported three different kinds of mycotoxins i.e. aflatoxin, sterigmatoceistin and orchratoxin produced by different fungal genera from 14 powdered herbal drug samples.…”

“…Fungal count enumeration and mycotoxin production were carried out by some workers. Important contributions are that of Hitoshi et al, 1978;Nagi Halim Azij et al, 1998;Roy and Chaurasia, 1998. Fragmentary reports on microbial contaminants of raw and powdered herbal drugs provide the picture of herbal drugs quality as well as their possible effect on health management.…”

“…Herbal drugs are crude preparations of different parts of one or more than one medicinal plant species. In other words, it can be stated that herbal drug is a dried medicinal plant or any part thereof, such as leaf, stem, root, flower or seed (Hitoshi et al, 1978). Large number of biologically active compounds from plant sources have shown their dramatic effect in modern medicine …”