Abstract：
Spices are food flavouring agents that are highly used in Iraq. However, they may be contaminated by toxicogenic fungi and subsequent production of mycotoxins. The aim of this study was to investigate the contamination of commonly used spices with fungi using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay and to detect fungal mycotoxin using high-performance liquid chromatography. Thirty-five spices (seven samples from each black pepper, red pepper, turmeric, cumin and ginger) were cultured on an appropriate medium to identify various fungi species. Later on, the toxigenicity of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger was determined using a PCR assay. The fungal mycotoxins, including aflatoxins and ochratoxins, were then determined through a high-performance liquid chromatography using the validated Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe (QuECHERS) method. Aspergillus species were the predominantly isolated fungi, followed by Penicillium and Fusarium. The PCR results indicate the high toxigenicity of A. flavus as 85.7% of the strains had aflQ/aflR genes and 79% had PKS15KS/PKS15C-MeT genes. Regarding mycotoxin contamination in spices, the highest rates of aflatoxins and ochratoxins were found in black pepper (5.913 μg/kg) and red chilli (6.9055 μg/kg), respectively. Spices are susceptible substrates for the growth of mycotoxigenic fungi. Thus, regular effective surveillance and quality control procedures are highly recommended.
摘要：
香料是在伊拉克高度使用的食品调味剂。然而,它们可能被有毒真菌污染，随后产生霉菌毒素。这项研究的目的是使用聚合酶链反应（PCR）测定法研究真菌对常用香料的污染，并使用高效液相色谱法检测真菌真菌毒素。35种香料（每种黑胡椒中的7种样品，红辣椒,姜黄,孜然和姜）在适当的培养基上培养，以鉴定各种真菌。稍后，使用PCR测定法测定黄曲霉和黑曲霉的毒性。真菌真菌毒素，包括黄曲霉毒素和曲霉毒素,然后通过高效液相色谱法使用经过验证的Quick，Easy,便宜,有效,Rugged,和安全(Quechers)方法。曲霉属主要是分离的真菌，其次是青霉菌和镰刀菌。PCR结果表明，黄曲霉的毒性高，因为85.7％的菌株具有aflQ/aflR基因，79％的菌株具有PKS15KS/PKS15C-MeT基因。关于香料中的霉菌毒素污染，黑胡椒(5.913μg/kg)和红辣椒(6.9055μg/kg)中黄曲霉毒素和曲霉毒素的含量最高，分别。香料是真菌毒性真菌生长的敏感底物。因此，强烈建议定期进行有效的监督和质量控制程序。
