Vol. 63 No. 1 (2024)
Articles

First report of Aspergillus species in green pistachio of Bronte

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  • Wanissa MELLIKECHE,
  • Giulia CASINI,
  • Marilita GALLO,
  • Anna Maria D'ONGHIA,
  • Giancarlo COLELLI,
  • Alessandra RICELLI
Wanissa MELLIKECHE
Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, degli Alimenti e dell’Ambiente, Università di Foggia, Via Napoli 25, 71122 Foggia
Giulia CASINI
Enbiotech S.r.l., Via Quarto dei Mille, 6, 90129 Palermo
Marilita GALLO
Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes Bari (CIHEAM Bari), Via Ceglie 9, 70010 Valenzano, Bari
Anna Maria D'ONGHIA
Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes Bari (CIHEAM Bari), Via Ceglie 9, 70010 Valenzano, Bari
Giancarlo COLELLI
Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, degli Alimenti e dell’Ambiente, Università di Foggia, Via Napoli 25, 71122 Foggia
Alessandra RICELLI
Istituto di Biologia e Patologia Molecolari (IBPM-CNR) P.le A. Moro 5, 00185, Roma
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/phyto-14949
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Published 2024-04-30

Keywords

  • Aspergillus niger,
  • A. flavus,
  • A. carbonarius,
  • A. tamarii,
  • A. tubingensis,
  • aflatoxins,
  • ochratoxin A
    • ...More
    Less

How to Cite

[1]
W. MELLIKECHE, G. CASINI, M. GALLO, A. M. D’ONGHIA, G. COLELLI, and A. RICELLI, “First report of Aspergillus species in green pistachio of Bronte”, Phytopathol. Mediterr., vol. 63, no. 1, pp. 103–110, Apr. 2024.

Copyright (c) 2024 Wanissa MELLIKECHE, Giulia CASINI, Marilita GALLO, Anna Maria D'ONGHIA, Giancarlo COLELLI, Alessandra RICELLI

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

Aspergillus contamination of pistachios causes significant product losses and potential presence of mycotoxins, particularly aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), and ochratoxin A (OTA). These toxins, which threaten human health, are strictly monitored by most nations. Italian pistachios produced in Bronte, Sicily, have high nutritional value and unique organoleptic properties, but the extent to which they contain these contaminants is unknown. Aspergillus spp. isolated from Bronte pistachios (cultivar Napoletana) were assessed for their ability to synthesize OTA or AFB1. Aspergillus occurrence in pistachio samples was measured at 1137 cfu g-1 for in shell pistachios and 770 cfu g-1 for kernels. The predominant isolated Aspergillus species was A. niger representing 74% of section Nigri (black isolates) and 47% of all Aspergillus isolates. Within section Flavi, A. flavus comprised 83% of green isolates. Only one black isolate (identified as A. carbonarius) had high OTA production, but all the A. flavus isolates had potential to produce AFG1 and AFB1, with AFB1 produced amount ranging from 0.1 to 8498 ng mL-1 of culture filtrate.

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