OTA-producing fungi isolated from stored cocoa beans

Abstract

Aims: The aim of this study was to identify fungal populations in unroasted cocoa beans stored in Spain in order to evaluate the ochratoxin A (OTA)-production ability of certain Aspergillus isolates. Methods and Results: Twenty batches of cocoa beans from different origins and with different OTA content were selected for this study. Three Aspergillus carbonarius and 13 Aspergillus niger aggregate strains isolated from these cocoa bean samples were selected to evaluate their OTA synthesis ability, being the only A. carbonarius isolates which are OTA producers [