Evaluation of hazard of aflatoxin B1, ochratoxin A and patulin production in dry-cured ham and early detection of producing moulds by qPCR

The growth of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), ochratoxin A (OTA) and patulin producing strains and the hazard of their mycotoxins production in dry-cured ham were evaluated. In addition, effectiveness of real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) for the detection and quantification of toxigenic moulds in this product before mycotoxins production was analyzed. For this, slices of dry-cured ham were inoculated in separate assays with AFB1, OTA and patulin producers and incubated at 97% and 84% relative humidity (RH) for 21 days at 25 °C. Higher counts were reached by AFB1 and patulin producing species at 97% RH, and by OTA producing species at 84% RH. The production of AFB1, OTA and patulin on dry-cured ham slices was demonstrated. The estimation of toxigenic moulds by qPCR was highly correlated with the counts obtained by plating in culture media. All the qPCR protocols assayed detected and quantified toxigenic moulds in the hams before mycotoxins were produced. Thus, qPCR should be considered for a reliable and rapid quantification of toxigenic moulds in dry-cured ham.