EFFECT OF SUCROSE ON THE PHYSIOLOGY AND TERRESTRIC ACID PRODUCTION OF PENICILLIUM AURANTIOGRISEUM

Penicillium aurantiogriseum (P. aurantiogriseum) is a post-harvest pathogen that causes significant losses in agricultural production during storage. It plays an important role in food and feed spoilage, and it contaminates agricultural products with mycotoxins that are potentially harmful to human and animal health. P. aurantiogriseum is one of the most toxic species in the genus Penicillium, and it is often isolated from foods, vegetables, fruits and permafrost sediments from the Arctic and Antarctic. It has also been isolated from the marine environment. Thus, it is resistant to several types of stress related to nutrients and growing conditions. This study aimed to determine the effect of sucrose on the physiology of P. aurantiogriseum in order to control its growth and toxigenesis. Mycotoxin production was determined by TLC technique. Our results show a close relationship between the physiological state of P. aurantiogriseum and the secretion of mycotoxins under carbon stress conditions. The physiological state of the pathogen reveals a correlation between increased sucrose concentration and the intensity of aging signs. Aging signs begin to disappear at a sucrose concentration of 400 g/l, which allows the normal characteristics of P. aurantiogriseum to reappear. It is suggested that this transformation is meant to avoid the action of sucrose. Terrestric acid production was recorded at the time of appearance of aging signs. Terrestric acid is always maintained, even after returning to a normal physiological state, but its production was diminished. The growth of P. aurantiogriseum can be controlled by modifying the sucrose concentration in growth medium. This allowed us to determine the critical concentration at which the pathogen suffered and thus reached the phase of decline earlier while mycotoxin production was minimal.