The Fungal Microbiome of Wheat Flour Includes Potential Mycotoxin Producers

• Published in: Foods Vol. 11; no. 5; p. 676
• Main Authors: Minutillo, Serena A, Ruano-Rosa, David, Abdelfattah, Ahmed, Schena, Leonardo, Malacrinò, Antonino
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 25-02-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Alternaria; Consumers; Flour; Food chains; Food production; Food products; Food science; Fungi; Grain; Grain storage; Laboratories; Maximum likelihood method; metabarcoding; Metabolites; Microbiomes; Microorganisms; Moisture content; Mycotoxins; Penicillium; post-harvest; Product safety; Secondary metabolites; Taxa; Taxonomy; Wheat; Netherlands; Detroit Michigan; United States > US; Germany; metabarcoding; Penicillium; post-harvest; Alternaria
• ISSN: 2304-8158; 2304-8158
• DOI: 10.3390/foods11050676

Consumers are increasingly demanding higher quality and safety standards for the products they consume, and one of this is wheat flour, the basis of a wide variety of processed products. This major component in the diet of many communities can be contaminated by microorganisms before the grain harvest, or during the grain storage right before processing. These microorganisms include several fungal species, many of which produce mycotoxins, secondary metabolites that can cause severe acute and chronic disorders. Yet, we still know little about the overall composition of fungal communities associated with wheat flour. In this study, we contribute to fill this gap by characterizing the fungal microbiome of different types of wheat flour using culture-dependent and -independent techniques. Qualitatively, these approaches suggested similar results, highlighting the presence of several fungal taxa able to produce mycotoxins. In-vitro isolation of fungal species suggest a higher frequency of
, while metabarcoding suggest a higher abundance of
. This discrepancy might reside on the targeted portion of the community (alive vs. overall) or in the specific features of each technique. Thus, this study shows that commercial wheat flour hosts a wide fungal diversity with several taxa potentially representing concerns for consumers, aspects that need more attention throughout the food production chain.