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Inhibition of Species of the Aspergillus Section Nigri and Ochratoxin A Production in Grapes by Fusapyrone

Institute of Sciences of Food Production, CNR, 70125 Bari, Italy,¹ Dipartimento di Scienze del Suolo, della Pianta, dell'Ambiente, e delle Produzioni Animali, Università di Napoli Federico II, 80055 Portici, Italy²

Received 31 August 2007/ Accepted 30 January 2008

Fusapyrone (FP), an antifungal natural compound, was tested against the three main ochratoxigenic species of the Aspergillus section Nigri. The MICs at 24 h were 6.0, 11.6, and 9.9 µg/ml for Aspergillus carbonarius, Aspergillus tubingensis, and Aspergillus niger, respectively. Strong inhibition of growth and morphological changes were still observed at half the MIC after 7 days. The application of a 100 µg/ml FP solution in a laboratory assay on artificially inoculated grapes resulted in a significant reduction (up to 6 orders of magnitude) of A. carbonarius CFU counts. Dramatic reductions of the ochratoxin A (OTA) content, compared to the content of the positive control (average amount of OTA, 112.5 ng/g of grape; three experiments), were obtained with the application of either 100 or 50 µg/ml of FP (0.6 or 5.1 ng/g of grape, respectively).

Published ahead of print on 8 February 2008.