TY - JOUR
T1 - Regional distribution and diversity of Aspergillus and Penicillium species on Croatian traditional meat products
AU - Zadravec, Manuela
AU - Lešić, Tina
AU - Brnić, Dragan
AU - Pleadin, Jelka
AU - Kraak, Bart
AU - Jakopović, Željko
AU - Perković, Irena
AU - Vahčić, Nada
AU - Tkalec, Vesna Jaki
AU - Houbraken, Jos
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded by the Croatian Science Foundation within the frame of the project Mycotoxins in traditional Croatian meat products: molecular identification of mycotoxin-producing moulds and consumer exposure assessment (No. IP-2018-01-9017 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2023/12/2
Y1 - 2023/12/2
N2 - Various factors, such as weather and production practices (e.g., environmental hygiene, process duration, raw material quality, ripening temperature, and relative humidity), in combination with the intrinsic product properties (e.g., pH, aw, salt content), significantly affect the growth of surface moulds. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify surface moulds retrieved from traditional meat products (TMPs) and correlate these data to the production region and production technology. The surface of 250 TMPs (dry-fermented sausages, n = 108; dry-cured meat products, n = 142) from five Croatian regions were sampled during a two-year period. Dry-fermented sausages had a significantly higher pH and a lower salt concentration when compared to dry-cured meat products. In total, 528 isolates were obtained, comprising 20 Penicillium and 17 Aspergillus species. The species most frequently isolated from the dry-fermented sausages were P. commune (32.4 %), A. proliferans (33 %), and P. solitum (14.8 %), while A. proliferans (52.1 %), P. commune (28.9 %) and P. citrinum (19.7 %) predominated in dry-cured meat products. Aspergillus predominated on the TMPs from southern Croatia, while Penicillium was prevalent on products from the other four regions, possibly due to differences in weather conditions. Seven potentially mycotoxigenic species (A. creber, A. flavus, A. niger, A. westerdijkiae, P. citrinum, P. commune, and P. nordicum) were isolated and identified. Regular monitoring of mould species and their toxigenic metabolites present on traditional meat products is of the utmost importance from the public health perspective, while the results of such a monitoring can prove beneficial for the tailoring of the production technology development.
AB - Various factors, such as weather and production practices (e.g., environmental hygiene, process duration, raw material quality, ripening temperature, and relative humidity), in combination with the intrinsic product properties (e.g., pH, aw, salt content), significantly affect the growth of surface moulds. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify surface moulds retrieved from traditional meat products (TMPs) and correlate these data to the production region and production technology. The surface of 250 TMPs (dry-fermented sausages, n = 108; dry-cured meat products, n = 142) from five Croatian regions were sampled during a two-year period. Dry-fermented sausages had a significantly higher pH and a lower salt concentration when compared to dry-cured meat products. In total, 528 isolates were obtained, comprising 20 Penicillium and 17 Aspergillus species. The species most frequently isolated from the dry-fermented sausages were P. commune (32.4 %), A. proliferans (33 %), and P. solitum (14.8 %), while A. proliferans (52.1 %), P. commune (28.9 %) and P. citrinum (19.7 %) predominated in dry-cured meat products. Aspergillus predominated on the TMPs from southern Croatia, while Penicillium was prevalent on products from the other four regions, possibly due to differences in weather conditions. Seven potentially mycotoxigenic species (A. creber, A. flavus, A. niger, A. westerdijkiae, P. citrinum, P. commune, and P. nordicum) were isolated and identified. Regular monitoring of mould species and their toxigenic metabolites present on traditional meat products is of the utmost importance from the public health perspective, while the results of such a monitoring can prove beneficial for the tailoring of the production technology development.
KW - Dry-cured meat
KW - Genes responsible for mycotoxin production
KW - Geographical region
KW - Moulds species
KW - Production technology
KW - Sausages
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85173965317&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2023.110404
DO - 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2023.110404
M3 - Article
C2 - 37778241
AN - SCOPUS:85173965317
SN - 0168-1605
VL - 406
JO - International Journal of Food Microbiology
JF - International Journal of Food Microbiology
M1 - 110404
ER -