Application of loop-mediated isothermal amplification assays for direct identification of pure cultures of Aspergillus flavus, A. nomius, and A. caelatus and for their rapid detection in shelled Brazil nuts

Brazil nuts have a high nutritional content and are a very important trade commodity for some Latin American countries. Aflatoxins are carcinogenic fungal secondary metabolites. In Brazil nuts they are produced predominantly by Aspergillus (A.) nomius and A. flavus. In the present study we applied and evaluated two sets of primers previously published for the […]

Modelling Aspergillus flavus growth and aflatoxins production in pistachio nuts

Aflatoxins (AFs) are the main contaminants in pistachio nuts. AFs production in pistachio has been attributed to Aspergillus flavus. The aim of this study was to apply existing models to predict growth and AFs production by an A. flavus isolated from pistachios as a function of moisture content and storage temperature of pistachios in order […]

The effect of X-ray irradiation on Salmonella inactivation and sensory quality of almonds and walnuts as a function of water activity

The overall goal of this study was to develop a set of process design principles for low-energy X-ray irradiation of tree nuts . Almonds and walnuts were inoculated with Salmonella Enteritidis PT30 and Salmonella Tennessee; and conditioned to four different water activities (0.23; 0.45; 0.64; and 0.84 aw). Thereafter; the inoculated/conditioned samples were irradiated to […]