Incidence of Altermaria Species in Red Pepper and Sesame from Korea and Their Ability to Produce Mycotoxins

한국산 고추와 참깨에 발생하는 Alternaria의 종류와 이들의 진균독소 생성능력

Alternaria alternata and A. solani were identified from 130 Alternaria isolates obtained from red pepper fruits, and three species including A. alternata, A. sesami and A. sesamicola were detected from 150 isolates from sesame seeds. Among the 4 Alternaria species, A. alternata was the predominant fungus from both plants, having incidence of 95.4% in red pepper and 56.0% in sesame. Of the total 280 isolates, cultures on autoclaved rice of 75 isolates were tested for toxicity to 21-day-old virgin female rats. Out of 50 isolates of A. alternata, 17 were lethal to rats, inducing congestion and hemorrhage of stomach and intestine and kidney enlargement, and 8 caused lack of weight gain or weight loss. The other 25 isolates of A. alternat and all the isolates of A. sesami, A. sesamicola and A. solani, showed no significant indication of toxicity. Production of mycotoxins in the rice cultures of the above 75 isolates belonging to 4 species was analyzed. Alternaria cultures were extracted with methanol and purified by using solvent partition, thin-layer chromatography, and high performance liquid chromatography. Of the four species tested, all produced alternariol (AOH) and alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), three (A. alternata, A. sesami and A. sesamicola) produced alternuene (ALT) and altertoxin-I (ATX-I), and only A. alternata produced tenuazonic acid (TA). TA was produced by all of the highly toxic (lethal to rats) isolates of A. alternata, but not by any nontoxic isolates.