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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2002, p. 2326-2329, Vol. 68, No. 5
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.5.2326-2329.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Ochratoxin Production by the Aspergillus ochraceus Group and Aspergillus alliaceus

Paul Bayman,1* James L. Baker,1 Mark A. Doster,2 Themis J. Michailides,2 and Noreen E. Mahoney1

Plant Mycotoxin Research Unit, Western Regional Research Center, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Albany, California 94710,1 Department of Plant Pathology, Kearney Agricultural Center, University of California, Davis, Parlier, California 936482

Received 9 April 2001/ Accepted 15 December 2001

Ochratoxin A is a toxic and carcinogenic fungal secondary metabolite; its presence in foods is increasingly regulated. Various fungi are known to produce ochratoxins, but it is not known which species produce ochratoxins consistently and which species cause ochratoxin contamination of various crops. We isolated fungi in the Aspergillus ochraceus group (section Circumdati) and Aspergillus alliaceus from tree nut orchards, nuts, and figs in California. A total of 72 isolates were grown in potato dextrose broth and yeast extract-sucrose broth for 10 days at 30°C and tested for production of ochratoxin A in vitro by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Among isolates from California figs, tree nuts, and orchards, A. ochraceus and Aspergillus melleus were the most common species. No field isolates of A. ochraceus or A. melleus produced ochratoxin A above the level of detection (0.01 µg/ml). All A. alliaceus isolates produced ochratoxin A, up to 30 µg/ml. We examined 50,000 figs for fungal infections and measured ochratoxin content in figs with visible fungal colonies. Pooled figs infected with A. alliaceus contained ochratoxin A, figs infected with the A. ochraceus group had little or none, and figs infected with Penicillium had none. These results suggest that the little-known species A. alliaceus is an important ochratoxin-producing fungus in California and that it may be responsible for the ochratoxin contamination occasionally observed in figs.

* Corresponding author. Present address: Departamento de Biología, Universidad de Puerto Rico-Río Piedras, P.O. Box 23360, San Juan, PR 00931-3360. Phone: (787) 764-0000, ext. 4880. Fax: (787) 764-3875. E-mail: pbayman{at}upracd.upr.clu.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2002, p. 2326-2329, Vol. 68, No. 5
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.5.2326-2329.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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