Country cured ham as a possible source of aflatoxin

Area of Science:

• Food Microbiology
• Mycology
• Food Safety

Background:

• Country cured ham is susceptible to fungal contamination during processing and storage.
• Certain fungal species, including Aspergillus flavus, can produce mycotoxins harmful to human health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and characterize fungal species isolated from heavily molded country cured ham.
• To determine the presence of toxigenic strains, specifically Aspergillus flavus, in the contaminated samples.

Main Methods:

• Isolation of fungal strains from country cured ham samples exhibiting significant mold growth.
• Identification of isolated fungi using standard mycological techniques.
• Assessment of the toxigenic potential of identified Aspergillus flavus strains.

Main Results:

• Ten fungal isolates were obtained from the molded country cured ham.
• Four of these isolates were identified as Aspergillus flavus.
• These identified Aspergillus flavus strains were confirmed to be toxigenic.

Conclusions:

• Toxigenic Aspergillus flavus strains can contaminate country cured ham.
• The presence of these toxigenic fungi poses a potential food safety risk.
• Further research into control measures for fungal contamination in cured meats is warranted.