Effect of Packaging and Storage Temperature on the Population of Aspergillus section Flavi and Aflatoxin Production in Fresh Pistachios

Subject Areas : Aflatoxin

Hossein Afshari ¹ ( Department of Horticulture, Damghan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Damghan, Iran )
Mehdi Mohammadi-Moghadam ² ( Horticultural Sciences Research Department, Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center of Semnan Province (Shahrood), AREEO, Shahrood, Iran )
Abolfazl Rezaee-Ahvanouyi ³ ( Department of Horticulture, Damghan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Damghan, Iran )
Seyed Hamidreza Ziaolhagh ⁴ ( Agricultural Engineering Research Department, Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center of Semnan Province (Shahrood), AREEO, Shahrood, Iran )
Seyed Reza Fani ⁵ ( Department of Plant Protection, Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center of Yazd Province, AREEO, Yazd, Iran )
Majid Aldaghi ⁶ ( Plant Protection Research Department, Khorasan Razavi Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Mashhad, Iran )

Received: 2022-04-30 Accepted : 2022-07-11 Published : 2022-09-01

Keywords: Contamination, mycotoxins, Food Safety, Nuts,

Abstract :

The study was performed to investigate the Aspergillus growth and aflatoxin production in fresh pistachios stored in different packagings. Forty kg of fresh pistachios of the Abbasali cultivar were sampled and kept in different temperature conditions including 4°C and ambient conventional temperatures in plastic baskets or polyethylene plastic bags. Sub-samples were taken at 4 days intervals for 32 days to measure aflatoxin and evaluate the population of Aspergillus section Flavi. Aflatoxins were quantified by HPLC and the fungal population was monitored by dilution series method and AFPA medium. The results showed that on the first day of storage in all conditions the amount of aflatoxin was undetectable. Aflatoxin infection started on the fourth day after storage in the ambient conventional temperature and increased over time. The lowest production of aflatoxin B1 was in the 4°C treatment. Pistachios stored at ambient conventional temperature and packed in plastic baskets showed the highest amount of aflatoxin B1 production. The effect of the treatments on the production of aflatoxin B1 showed that the samples in polyethylene plastic bags at ambient temperature were the highest. The results showed that in the 4°C treatment, the fungal population was significantly less than in ambient temperature treatments. The lowest fungal population was in the 4°C plastic baskets packaged treatment. This treatment was not significantly different from the 4°C polyethylene bag treatment but was significantly different from other treatments (P≤0.01). In general, keeping fresh pistachio at 4°C and suitable plastic is trustworthy. Storage for more than 8 days in the ambient conventional temperature greatly increases the risk of fungal and aflatoxin contamination.

References:

Abbaszadeh R, Alimohammad K, Zarrabi Ekbatani R. (2018) Application of Cold Plasma Technology in Quality Preservation of Fresh Fig Fruit (Siyah): A Feasibility Study. International Journal of Horticultural Science and Technology. 5(2),165-73.

Amaike S, Keller NP (2011) Aspergillus Flavus. Annual Review of Phytopathology 49, 107-133. Doi: 10.1146/annurev-phyto-072910-095221

Barkai-Golan R, Paster N (2011) Mycotoxins in fruit and vegetables. Academic Press, Burlington. pp. 395.

Brans H (2011) Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards Narrative, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. Global Agriculture Information.

Cuero R, Ouellet T, Yu J, Mogongwa N (2003) Metal ion enhancement of fungal growth, gene expression and aflatoxin synthesis in Aspergillus flavus: RT‐PCR characterization. Journal of Applied Microbiology. 94(6), 953-961.

Doster MA, Michailides TJ (1999) Relationship between shell discoloration of pistachio nuts and incidence of fungal decay and insect infestation. Plant Disease. 83(3), 259-264.

Ehrlich KC, Montalbano VG, Cotty PJ (2003) Sequence comparison of aflR from different Aspergillus species provides evidence for variability in regulation of aflatoxin production. Fungal Genetics and Biology. 38, 63-74.

FAO (2020) Pistachio production in 2018, Crops/Regions/World list/Production Quantity (pick lists). UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT). Available: https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL.  . 2019. [Accessed February 24 2020].

Fani SR, Moradi M, Probst C, Zamanizadeh HR, Mirabolfathy M, Haidukowski M, Logrieco AF (2014) A critical evaluation of cultural methods for the identification of atoxigenic Aspergillus flavus isolates for aflatoxin mitigation in pistachio orchards of Iran. European Journal of Plant Pathology. 140(4), 631-642. Doi: 10.1007/s10658-014-0499-1

Gbashi S, Madala NE, De Saeger S, De Boevre M, Adekoya I, Adebo OA, Njobeh PB (2018) The socio-economic impact of mycotoxin contamination in Africa. In: PB Njobeh (ed), Fungi and Mycotoxins—Their Occurrence, Impact on Health and the Economy as well as Pre- and Postharvest Management Strategies. IntechOpen: London, UK.

Gourama H, Bullerman LB (1995) Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus: aflatoxigenic fungi of concern in foods and feeds: A review. Journal of Food Protection. 58(12), 1395-1404.

Habibie A, Yazdani N, Saba MK, Vahdati K (2019) Ascorbic acid incorporated with walnut green husk extract for preserving the postharvest quality of cold storage fresh walnut kernels. Scientia Horticulturae 245, 193-199.

Hadadinejad M, Ghasemi K, Mohammadi AA. (2018) Effect of storage temperature and packaging material on shelf life of thornless blackberry. International Journal of Horticultural Science and Technology. 5(2), 265-75.

Iran National Organization of Standardization (2012) Food and feed stuffs-Determination of aflatoxins B and G by HPLC method using immunoaffinity column clean up-Test method, No. 6872.

Ito Y, Peterson SW, Wicklow DT. Goto T (2001) Aspergillus pseudotamarii, a new aflatoxin producing species in Aspergillus section Flavi. Mycological Research. 105(2), 233-239.

Keller NP, Nesbitt C, Sarr B, Phillips TD,  Burow GB (1997) pH regulation of sterigmatocystin and aflatoxin biosynthesis in Aspergillus spp. Phytopathology. 87(6), 643-648.

Liu BH, Chu FS (1998) Regulation of aflR and its product, AflR, associated with aflatoxin biosynthesis. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 64(10), 3718-3723.

Mahbobinejhad Z, Aminian H, Ebrahimi L, Vahdati K. (2019) Reduction of aflatoxin production by exposing Aspergillus flavus to CO₂. Journal of Crop Protection. 8(4): 441-448.

Mirabolfathy M, Ghadarijani MM, Waliyar F (2005) Variability in aflatoxicogenic potential and sclorotial production of A. flavus in pistachio in Iran. Acta Horticulturae. 726, 619-626.

Mojthahedi H, Danesh D, Haghighi B, Barnett R (1978) Postharvest pathology and mycotoxin contamination of Iranian pistachio nuts. Phytopathology. 68, 1800-1804.

Mohammadi-Benaruiyeh P, Sharifi-Sirchi GR (2021) Grape Seed and Skin Extracts as Natural Preserving Agents on Strawberry Fruit. International Journal of Horticultural Science and Technology. 8(4), 415-29.

Mojthahedi H, Danesh D, Haghighi B, Fathy S (1980) Storage relative humidity in Rafsanjan and impossibility of pistachio aflatoxicosis after nut processing. Iranian Journal of Plant Pathology. 16, 80-85.

Moradi M, Ershad D, Mirabolfathy M, Panahi B (2004) The role of plant debris, soil and manure on population density of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger groups in pistachio orchards of Kerman province. Iranian Journal of Plant Pathology. 40 (34), 221-234.

 

Moradi M, Hokmabadi H (2011) Control of mycotoxin bioactives in nuts: farm to fork. In Tokusoglu, Ö (ed) Nut and cereal bioactives sources. chemistry, and applications. CRC Press. Turkey.

Moradi M, Hokmabadi H, Fani SR (2015) A study concerned with the factors affecting the fungal growth and aflatoxin production during storage of pistachio in Kerman province. Journal of Food Technology and Nutrition. 12(2), 83-92.

Moradi M, Hokmabadi H, Mirabolfathy M (2010) Density fluctuations of two major Aspergillus species airborne spores in pistachio orchards growing regions of Iran. International Journal of Nuts and Relatred Science. 1, 60-70 

Moradi M, Javanshah A (2006) Distribution of aflatoxin in processed pistachio nut terminals. Acta Horticulturae. 726, 69.

Shamshiri MH, Hasani MR (2015) Synergistic accumulative effects between exogenous salicylic acid and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus in pistachio (Pistacia vera cv. Abareqi) seedlings under drought stress. International Journal of Horticultural Science and Technology. 2(2), 151-160

Sharifkhah M, Bakhshi D, Pourghayoumi M, Abdi S, Hokmabadi H (2020) Effect of pollination time on yield and antioxidant properties of some pistachio cultivars. International Journal of Horticultural Science and Technology. 7(1), 51-8.

Talukder FU, Rahman M, Hassan M (2020) Effects of packaging and low temperature on shelf life and quality of Litchi. International Journal of Horticultural Science and Technology. 7(2), 103-18.