Qualitative Detection of Fungal Contamination in Paprika Powder

Abstract

Dried red pepper is one of the most commonly used spices in many parts of the world. In this study molecular biology methods were applied for detection of contamination in nine samples of paprika powder. Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) regions were selected for sequencing as they have a high variability between species and organisms and therefore are an appropriate tool for taxonomic identification. The sequence analysis of the ITS regions were identified by high sequence similarity with the ITS regions of many microscopic fungi, especially representatives of the class Ascomycota and several other yeast species. This work was a qualitative rather than a quantitative detection, so the extent to which fungi and yeasts were present in the samples is unknown. However, supplied quality certificates (microbiological data) indicated the overall quality of samples. Harmful microorganisms were identified in the paprika powder samples and the likely mode of contamination was identified. Practical Application The presence of undesirable pathogens can be a serious problem for consumers, especially contamination by microscopic fungi that have the potential to produce mycotoxins. Today's conventional methods for determining contamination by microorganisms are time consuming and can be difficult to identify some less common types of pathogens. Fungal DNA (ITS regions) sequences of the class Ascomycetes were identified from samples of sweet and hot paprika powder.

Fungal contamination of food commodities in Durban, South Africa

“…A. tamarii and A. terreus were also found to contaminate pepper samples in Sri Lanka (Yogendrarajah et al, ). Vyhnánek et al () also reported the presence of A. fumigatus, A. terreus, and Fusarium sp. in samples of sweet and hot paprika.…”

“…were also found to contaminate pepper samples in Sri Lanka (Yogendrarajah et al, 2014). Vyhnánek et al (2017) Gnonlonfin et al (2013) (Nganou et al, 2014;Prelle, Spadaro, Garibaldi, & Gullino, 2014). OTA is known to have nephrotoxic, hepatotoxic, immune-toxic, and teratogenic properties, and classified in the group 2B (possible human carcinogen) by the International Agency for…”

Molecular Detection of Fungi in Paprika, Chili Powder and Black Pepper

“…The reaction was held at 72 °C for 10 min before a final hold at 10 °C. DNA isolation, sequence analysis of ITS region, and bioinformatic analysis were performed according to the protocol described by Vyhnánek et al (2017).…”

Rapid Identification of Polypeptide from Carbapenem‐Resistant and SusceptibleEscherichia colivia Orbitrap‐MS and Pattern Recognition Analyses

“…Molecular biology method for microbial identification can greatly improve the sensitivity and timeliness, but it is a complicated operation process with a low detection efficiency, and therefore is only suitable for specific bacteria and does not meet the clinical requirements. [13][14][15] It is necessary to develop new analytical methods for microbial identification.…”