Fungi Occurrence in Ready-to-Eat Hazelnuts ( Corylus avellana ) From Different Boreal Hemisphere Areas
The present study evaluated the fungal contamination of ready-to-eat dried hazelnuts considering for the first time the application of the same condition drying process of several hazelnut cultivars from different boreal hemisphere areas. Fifty lots of hazelnuts ( ), belonging to eight cultivars fro...
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| Published in: | Frontiers in microbiology Vol. 13; p. 900876 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Switzerland
Frontiers Media S.A
26-04-2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | The present study evaluated the fungal contamination of ready-to-eat dried hazelnuts considering for the first time the application of the same condition drying process of several hazelnut cultivars from different boreal hemisphere areas. Fifty lots of hazelnuts (
), belonging to eight cultivars from seven regions in four countries, were analyzed for fungal microbiota, describing both load levels and species diversity. For this purpose, a polyphasic approach consisting of morphological examination (optical and scanning electron microscope observation) and molecular characterization [PCR-DGGE analysis and sequence analyses of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS)] was performed. The results show that different fungal populations occur in dried hazelnuts regardless of their geographical area of production. Although some varieties appear to be relatively less susceptible, species related to
, such as
and
,
, including
, and
, and
, for instance,
and
, have generally been found. A related character "hazelnut cultivar-fungi" was found for species related to the genera
and
, including
,
, and
. All 14 species found are known to host pathogenic strains. Therefore, their presence in a ready-to-eat product, such as dried hazelnuts, can pose a real danger to the consumer. Based on these considerations, the development of new protective strategies seems highly desirable. The species-level description of the contaminating fungal community acquired through this study is the starting point for the development of tailor-made protective biotechnologies. |
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| Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 This article was submitted to Food Microbiology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Microbiology Edited by: Filomena Nazzaro, National Research Council (CNR), Italy Reviewed by: Giancarlo Moschetti, Università di Palermo, Italy; Vincenzo De Feo, University of Salerno, Italy; Maria Grazia Bonomo, University of Basilicata, Italy |
| ISSN: | 1664-302X 1664-302X |
| DOI: | 10.3389/fmicb.2022.900876 |