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Occurrence and fumonisin B2 producing potential of Aspergillus section Nigri in Brazil nuts

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Abstract

Bertholletia excelsa is the tree that produces Brazil nuts which have vast economic importance in the Amazon region and as an export commodity. The aim of this study was to assess the presence of Aspergillus section Nigri in Brazil nut samples at different stages of its production chain and to verify the toxigenic potential for fumonisin B2 (FB2) production of these isolates along with the presence of this mycotoxin in Brazil nut samples. The fungal infection ranged from 0 to 80% at the different stages of the harvest and processing chain and the water activity of the nuts from 0.273 to 0.994. A total of 1052 A. section Nigri strains were isolated from Brazil nuts and 200 strains were tested for their ability to produce FB2: 41 strains (20.5%) were FB2 producers with concentrations ranging from 0.09 to 37.25 mg/kg; 2 strains (1%) showed traces of FB2, less than the detection limit (0.08 mg/kg); and 157 (78.5%) were not FB2 producers. Although several samples showed high contamination by A. section Nigri, no sample was contaminated by FB2.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (Process 2009/07693-6), and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) together with Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento, (MAPA, Process 578485/2008-7).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Tecnologia de Alimentos - ITAL, C.P. 139, Campinas, SP, CEP 13070-178, Brazil

    Larissa S. Ferranti, Beatriz T. Iamanaka & Marta H. Taniwaki

  2. Departamento de Ciências Biológicas-ICB, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Benedito Correa

  3. Universidade Estadual de Londrina, P.O. Box 6001, Londrina, PR, 6051-970, Brazil

    Maria Helena P. Fungaro & Fernanda P. Massi

  4. Department of Systems Biology, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark

    Christopher B. W. Phippen & Jens C. Frisvad

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  1. Larissa S. Ferranti
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  2. Benedito Correa
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  3. Maria Helena P. Fungaro
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  4. Beatriz T. Iamanaka
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  7. Jens C. Frisvad
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  8. Marta H. Taniwaki
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Correspondence to Larissa S. Ferranti.

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Highlights

• This is the first report of A. section Nigri strains isolated from Brazil nuts producing FB2.

• The PCR assay revealed 100 and 33% of A. niger and A. welwitschiae isolates, respectively, harboring the fum8 gene in their genomes.

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Ferranti, L.S., Correa, B., Fungaro, M.H.P. et al. Occurrence and fumonisin B2 producing potential of Aspergillus section Nigri in Brazil nuts. Mycotoxin Res 33, 49–58 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12550-016-0262-x

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