Lugauskas A, Raudoniene V, Sveistyte L: Toxin producing micromycetes on imported products of plant origin. Ann Agric Environ Med 2005, 12, 109-118.

Abstract: Recently the food of people is profusely supplemented with vegetables and fruit imported from various regions. Investigations on the mycological state of imported foodstuffs revealed that the marketed vegetables, fresh, dried and frozen fruit are contaminated with propagules of various micromycetes. The obtained results allow the conclusion that vegetables and fruit can become a good substrate for mycotoxin producing micromycetes. The micromycetes develop on everyday products and can become the cause of slow toxicoses, which are characterized by a diversity of symptoms and are difficult to diagnose. Therefore, contamination of food products with micromycetes of the Penicillium, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Alternaria, Paecilomyces, Trichotecium, Rhizopus genera should receive particular attention. It should be noted that a strain growing on a particular type of vegetable or fruit could synthesize and excrete different toxic secondary metabolites.

Address for correspondence: Prof. Dr. Habil. Albinas Lugauskas, Institute of Botany, Biodeterioration Reseach Laboratory, Zaliuju ezeru 49, LT-08406 Vilnius, Lithuania. E-mail: lugauskas@botanika.lt

Key words: fungi, contamination, toxin, vegetable, fruit, products, imported.