Aspergillus, Penicillium and Cladosporium species associated with dried date fruits collected in the Perugia (Umbria, Central Italy) market.

A total of 20 dried date samples, chosen as representative among those available on the Perugia (Umbria, Central Italy) market, were analyzed for the possible occurrence of fungal species and related contamination by fungal secondary metabolites. Twenty-six isolates, representative of the total mycobiota, were obtained and morphologically identified as belonging to the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium and Cladosporium. Inside each genus, molecular characterization (by partial sequencing of ITS region and/or β-tubulin and calmodulin regions for Aspergillus and Penicillium isolates or actin region for Cladosporium isolates) and in vitro mycotoxigenic profile characterization (by LC-MS/MS analysis) showed the presence of the following species: A. flavus, A. tubingensis, P. brevicompactum, P. chrysogenum, P. crustosum, P. glabrum, P. solitum, P. venetum, C. cladosporioides, C. limoniforme and C. halotolerans, with A. tubingensis as the prevalent species and P. crustosum, P. solitum, P. venetum and C. limoniforme first reported here on dates. Date packaging and format showed an effect on the incidence of isolated fungi, with the lowest incidence recovered from whole dates and in hermetic bag packaging. These findings can be useful both for dried dates producers and consumers, guiding them towards choices of packaging and format with a lower risk of mycotoxigenic species presence. However, no fungal metabolites were detected in the dried date samples analyzed, which were therefore regarded as safe for human consumption, underlining the absence of correspondence between fungal isolation and mycotoxin contaminations.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare they have no competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.
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