Bacillus licheniformis M2-7 Decreases Ochratoxin A Concentrations in Coffee Beans During Storage
Microbial contamination of coffee beans arises from various factors such as harvesting, handling, and storage practices, during which ochratoxin A (OTA)-producing fungi develop and proliferate. The presence of elevated concentrations of OTA poses a serious health risk to coffee consumers. Therefore,...
Saved in:
Published in: | Current microbiology Vol. 81; no. 2; p. 62 |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Journal Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
New York
Springer US
01-02-2024
Springer Nature B.V |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | Get full text |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Summary: | Microbial contamination of coffee beans arises from various factors such as harvesting, handling, and storage practices, during which ochratoxin A (OTA)-producing fungi develop and proliferate. The presence of elevated concentrations of OTA poses a serious health risk to coffee consumers. Therefore, the implementation of a post-harvest treatment involving the use of bacteria known to antagonize OTA-producing fungi constitutes a safe alternative for reducing or eliminating the toxin’s concentration in coffee beans. In this study, coffee beans (
Coffea arabica
L.) were inoculated with
Bacillus licheniformis
M2-7, after which we monitored fungal growth, in vitro antagonism, and OTA concentration. Our findings demonstrated that coffee beans inoculated with this bacterial strain exhibited a significant decrease in fungal populations belonging to the genera
Aspergillus
and
Penicillium
, which are known to produce OTA. Moreover, strain M2-7 decreased the growth rates of these fungi from 67.8% to 95.5% (
P
< 0.05). Similarly, inoculation with
B. licheniformis
strain M2-7 effectively reduced the OTA concentration from 24.35 ± 1.61 to 5.52 ± 1.69 µg/kg (
P
< 0.05) in stored coffee beans. These findings suggest that
B. licheniformis
M2-7 holds promise as a potential post-harvest treatment for coffee beans in storage, as it effectively inhibits the proliferation of OTA-producing fungi and lowers the toxin’s concentration. |
---|---|
Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0343-8651 1432-0991 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s00284-023-03575-8 |