Effects of temperature, water activity, and incubation time on production of aflatoxins and cyclopiazonic acid by an isolate of aspergillus flavus in surface agar culture

N. Gqaleni, J.E. Smith, J. Lacey, G. Gettinby

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Abstract

An experiment with a full factorial design was used to study the effects of and interactions among temperature, water activity (a(infw)), incubation period, and substrate on coproduction of aflatoxins (AF) and cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) by an isolate of Aspergillus flavus. Analysis of variance showed that there was a complex interaction among all of these factors and that this influenced the relative concentrations of the mycotoxins produced. The optimum temperatures for the production of AF and CPA were 30(deg)C and 25(deg)C, respectively. Both mycotoxins were maximally produced (0.306 to 0.330 (mu)g of AF(middot)ml of medium(sup-1), 4.040 to 6.256 (mu)g of CPA(middot)ml of medium(sup-1)) at an a(infw) of 0.996 and after 15 days of incubation. No AF were produced in either yeast extract agar or Czapek yeast autolysate agar medium at an a(infw) of 0.90 at 20 or 37(deg)C after 15 days (minimum conditions), while 0.077 to 0.439 (mu)g of CPA(middot)ml of medium(sup-1) was produced under the same conditions. Yeast extract agar favored maximum AF production, and Czapek yeast autolysate agar favored maximum CPA production.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1048-1053
Number of pages5
JournalApplied and Environmental Microbiology
Volume63
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - Mar 1997

Keywords

  • mycotoxin production
  • growth
  • parasiticus
  • substrate
  • sclerotia
  • metabolites
  • penicillia
  • strains
  • patulin
  • wheat

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