Mycopopulation of spices

Abstract

The presence of fungi in cinnamon, marjoram, caraway and clove was investigated. Total fungal counts determined on SMA nutritive medium ranged from 8.0 (clove) to 3.3 ? 104 per g (caraway) and from 6.0 to 5.2 ? 104 per g on MY50G medium for the same spices. The most frequent contaminants of spice samples were the genera: Eurotium (90%), Aspergillus (80%), Penicillium (75%), Cladosporium (45%), Rhizopus, Scopulariopsis and Syncephalastrum (25%). Producers of sterigmatocystin (80%) were dominant. Producers of aflatoxin (60%) and ochratoxin A (30%) were isolated from the samples.