Inhibition of ochratoxin A and hydrolytic enzyme production by propylparaben antimicrobial on Aspergillus section Nigri strains.

BARBERIS C.L.,; FERNANDEZ J.M.G.,; DALCERO A.M; MAGNOLI C.E,

Merida, Yucatán, México

Congreso; VI Latin American Congress of Mycotoxicology and II International Symposium on Fungal and Algal Toxins in Industry.; 2010

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is one of the most important fungal toxic metabolite of worldwide concern for human and animal health, due to its implication in a diverse range of toxicological (1). In previous works in Argentina Magnoli, et al., (2,3) informed the prevalence of OTA producer strains belonging to Aspergillus section Nigri and variable percentage of storage peanut grain samples contaminated with OTA. Antimicrobials as propyl paraben (PP) are used safely as traditional fungicidal substitutes for control of fungal species development in several food and agricultural products (4,5). Previous studies demonstrated that this antimicrobial could control fungal growth, fumonisin and aflatoxin production on natural substrates (6,7,8,9). Correlations have been found for fungal contamination of grain with the level of ergosterol and Magan (10) hypothesized that the specfic activity of hydrolytic enzymes was a good early indicator of the activity of spoilage moulds. Thus quantifying enzyme production and its inhibition, is also a good indicator of effectiveness or treatments.