• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.109-115
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• 1991

Twenty-five fungal strains producing an extracellular soybean milk clotting enzyme were isolated from 146 soil samples, and identified as 11 species belonging to six genera of Aspergillus oryzae (5 strains), Aspergillus flavus (2 strains), Aspergillus parasiticus (1 strain), Aspergillus tamarii (2 strains), Aspergillus niger (4 strains), Aspergillus fumigatus (2 strains), Mucor hiemalis (2 strains), Wallemia sebi (4 strains), Scopulariopsis condida (1 strain), Fusarium redolens(1 strain) and Verticillum lecanii (1 strain). Among them, Aspergillus oryzae 020 and Aspergillus tamarii 287 showed relatively high soybean milk clotting activity. The coagulabilities of the enzyme from representative strains of those species decreased as the pH of soybean milk increased from 6.0 to 7.0 The optimum temperature for soybean milk clotting enzymes of those strains were 65$^{\circ}C$.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.282-288
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• 2014

In this study, we attempted to isolate fungi from soybean fermented foods produced in Sunchang County and to identify Aspergillus oryzae from fungal isolates. Ten fungal isolates were identified with ${\beta}$-tubulin gene. According to the sequences of ${\beta}$-tubulin gene, ten fungal isolates were identified as A. oryzae/flavus complex. For further identification of the ten of fungal isolates, omtA gene, one gene of the aflatoxin biosynthesis gene cluster, was sequenced and the sequences were compared with those of A. oryzae and A. flavus strains from the GenBank database. In addition, identification of the ten fungal isolates was further confirmed using the PCR amplicon of norB and cypA intergenic region, in which a deletion was recognized relative to A. flavus and A. parasiticus. The amplicon size of the ten fungal isolate strains was smaller than those of A. flavus and A. parasiticus, but the same as that of the reference A. oryzae strain. These results indicated that the ten isolates should be identified as A. oryzae. The protease activity in rice koji made with 6, 13, 17, 27, 37 and 38 of strain, respectively was twice higher than that in control. The kojis made with nine of the A. oryzae isolates, respectively, did not produce aflatoxin, suggesting that the strains could possibly be used as starters for soybean products.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.377-383
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• 2009

This study was conducted to investigate the total phenol contents, antioxidative activities and antibacterial activities of twenty species of entomopathogenic fungi. The total phenol content was highest in Aspergillus flavus ($553.0{\pm}52.15{\mu}g/g$) and A. parasiticus ($529.9{\pm}60.10{\mu}g/g$). On the other hand those in other strains were within the range of $26.6{\sim}121.9{\mu}g/g$. The antioxdative activity was shown in the most of strains and the highest DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity was observed in A. flavus ($90.9{\pm}2.90%$) and A. parasiticus ($77.9{\pm}4.13%$). This result indicated that the antioxidative activities were very correlated with the total phenol contents. The antibacterial activitiy was found in the every tested pathogenic bacteria. Especially, the antibacterial activity was strongest against Listeria monocytogenes and Escherchia coli.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.270-277
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• 2010

In order to manufacture Bacillus cereus-free fermented soybean products, an antimicrobial agentproducing isolate against B. cereus was obtained from 150 traditionally fermented soybean products. The morphological and biochemical tests and the phylogenetic relationship among 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the isolate named as the strain SCK 121057 was most closely related to Bacillus licheniformis. The B. licheniformis isolate began to produce the antimicrobial agent after 48 h of incubation. The agent was nonproteinaceous and insensitive to heat, long term storage and protease K. Electron microscopic observation indicated that the agent attacked the membrane of B. cereus, leaving the ghost cell. The isolate inhibited growth of B. subtilis, Lactobacillus brevis and various types of pathogenic strains including Escherichia coli, E. faecalis, Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus flavus, A. ochraceus, and A. parasiticus as well as B. cereus. After coinoculation of B. licheniformis SCK 121057 and B. cereus in the ratio (as the basis of CFU/g sample) of 10 to 1 on the surface of cooked soybeans, cell numbers of B. cereus had been dramatically reduced after 31 days of incubation compared to those of single inoculation of B. cereus.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.79-86
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• 2002

Aflatoxin is a secondary fungal metabolite and is a public health hazard because it is a human carcinogenic and has many deleterious effects in men and animals. Rice is one of the better substrates far the fungus which can produce aflatoxins. This study was performed to investigate aflatoxin reduction during the cooking and processing of rice. Aflatoxin was produced by Aspergillus parasiticus ATCC 15517 on well-milled rice (Japonica type) at the level of 13.2 ppb. Cooked rice, rice cakes (baek-sol-gi, plain steamed rice bread), fermented rice (sikhye, sweet rice beverage), and popped rice were prepared from the aflatoxin-contaminated rice. Aflatoxin content in the samples was determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The total aflatoxin level was decreased to 46.9% in the cooked rice, 85.6% in the rice cakes, 11.4% in the fermented rice, and 7.6% in the popped rice, respectively (p.0.05). This reduction brought the level of aflatoxins down to below the Standard and Specification of korea (10 ppb), except for the rice cakes. These results indicate that washing, steaming, fermentation, and popping of rice was helpful in reducing the aflatoxin level in the rice and the most helpful factors were high temperature & high pressure. More research is needed to understand why the preparation of rice cakes did not reduce the level of aflatoxin as much as the other cooking methods.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.400-406
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• 1997

Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of Houttuynia cordata Thunb. were investigated to develop a natural food preservative from it. Aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine and arginine were major amino acids of Houttuynia cordata Thunb., but were present in a trace amount. Free sugars were composed of glucose, fructose, sucrose and maltose and major fatty acids were linolenic acid, linoleic acid, oleic acid, and palmitic acid. Mineral elements were potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, and copper. Antimicrobial activities were shown in acidic, neutral and phenolic fraction of Houttuynia cordata Thunb., but not in basic fraction. Among the four fractions, neutral fraction showed the strongest antimicrobial activities against microorganisms tested, such as Pseudomnas aeruginosa, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus subtilis, Aspergillus parasiticus and Aspergillus flavus. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum lethal concentration (MLC) of the neutral fraction varied according to microoganisms tested. The lowest values of MIC (0.0075 g eq./mL) and MLC (0.10 g eq./mL) were obtained from Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

• Mycobiology
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.288-299
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• 2023

Aspergillus is one of the largest and diverse genera of fungi with huge economical, biotechnological, and social significance. Taxonomically, Aspergillus is divided into six subgenera comprising 27 sections. In this study, 235 strains of Aspergillus subgenus Circumdati (section: Candidi, Circumdati, Flavi, Flavipedes, Nigri, and Terrei) preserved at the Korean Agricultural Culture Collection (KACC) were analyzed and re-identified using a combined dataset of partial b-tubulin (BenA), Calmodulin (CaM) gene sequences and morphological data. We confirmed nineteen species to be priorly reported in Korea (A. neotritici, A. terreus, A. floccosus, A. allahabadii, A. steynii, A. westerdijkiae, A. ochraceus, A. ostianus, A. sclerotiorum, A. luchuensis, A. tubingensis, A. niger, A. welwitschiae, A. japonicus, A. nomius, A. tamarii, A. parasiticus, A. flavi, and A. oryzae). Among the studied strains, three species (A. subalbidus, A. iizukae, and A. uvarum), previously unreported or not officially documented, were discovered in Korea, to the best of our knowledge. We have given a detailed description of the characteristic features of the three species, which remain uncharted in Korea.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.87-93
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• 2003

This study was performed to investigate aflatoxin reduction resulting from the pre-treatment and the cooking and processing of corn. Aflatoxin was produced by Aspergillus parasiticus ATCC 15517 on a type of corn imported from the United States. The aflatoxin-produced com (AC) was pre-treated in three ways in order to reduce aflatoxin: exposure to sun light for 7 days (SC); ultraviolet irradiation for 56 hours (UC); and washing with water three times (WC). Four kinds of cooking and processing methods (boiling, steaming, baking, and popping) were used to reduce aflatoxin in the AC control, SC, UC, and WC. These treatments produced com gruel, com cakes, com bread and popcorn. The aflatoxin content in the samples was determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The total aflatoxin level of the AC was significantly decreased by sun light and UV (p<0.05), and decreased by washing. After cooking and processing the AC, SC, UC, and WC, and averaging the total aflatoxin levels in the final products, the greatest reduction was found in the com gruel, then the popcorn, then the corn cakes, and the least reduction in the com bread. These results indicate that sunlight and ultraviolet energy could be effective factors in aflatokin degradation in corn before cooking and processing. This study also indicates that boiling, steaming, baking and popping were helpful in reducing the aflatoxin level in the com and that the most helpful factors were exposure time to heat. More research is needed to reduce the aflatoxin level down to below the maximum tolerable level of aflatoxin in foods.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.59-62
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• 1980

Investigation on modification of aflatoxin structures by Pseudomonads was attempted as a biological detoxifiying process of mycotoxins. Firstly, when any variation of aflatoxin yield of Aspergillus parasiticus in a mixed culture with Pseudomonas aeruginosa was examined, there was no noticible effect by growth of Pseudomonads on aflatoxin yield of Asperillus sp. Secondly, when capacity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa utilizing aflatoxin as a carbon source for its growth was tested, there was some indication that aflatoxin might be used for growth of Pseudomonads. It was also noticed that the residual aflatoxin showed different migrating pattern compared with that of the intact aflatoxin by thin layer chromatography. Thirdly, the cell-free extract prepared from Pseudomonas aeruginosa grown in a glucose minimal medium supplemented with aflatoxin and the intact aflatoxins were incubated in the presence of $Mg^{++}$. After a certain length of incubation period, the reaction mixtures were applied on TLC plates. As a result, aflatoxins in the reaction mixture migrated differently as the control did. Such results may indicate that some changes of aflatoxin properties were induced by Pseudomonads.

• Mycobiology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.166-172
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• 2003

Chemical analysis of salted fish was analyzed in 60 samples collected from various moloha markets in Sohag, Qena and Aswan Governorates, Upper Egypt. Moloha contained 52.9% water content, while organic matter content represented 71.79% of dry weight and 33.81%($338.12{\pm}8.64mg\;g^{-1}$) of fresh weight. Total salts and soluble salts represented 13.29% and 10.19%($132.88{\pm}7.65\;and\;101.93{\pm}5.76mg\;g^{-1}$ of fresh weight), respectively. pH values were more or less neutral. Mycological investigation of examined samples revealed that fifty-five fungal species and one variety belonging to 11 genera were identified. The fungal genera of highest occurrence and their respective number of species were Aspergillus(A. flavus, A. niger, A. fumigatus, A. montevidensis, A. ficuum, A. parasiticus and A. mangini) and Penicillium(P. citrinum, P. puberulum, P. aurantiogriseum and P. roquefortii). On the other hand, yeast represented 18.2% and 3.0% of total counts of fungi on Czapeks-dextrose agar and 15%NaCl-Czapeks-dextrose agar media, respectively. Samples were assayed for potential presence of mycotoxins. Ten out of 60 samples(16.7%) were proved to be toxic. It is the first record of mycotoxins contamination of salted fish in Egypt. The ability of 340 isolates of recovered fungi was screened for production of mycotoxins and extracellular enzymes.