Fumonisin B2 production by Aspergillus niger from Thai coffee beans

Paramee Noonim (1, 2) , Warapa Mahakarnchanakulb (1) , Kristian F Nielsen (3) , Jens Frisvad (3) , Robert A Samson (4)

1 Department of Food Science and Technology
2 Faculty of Technology and Management
3 Department of Systems Biology
4 CBS Fungal biodiversity centre

During 2006 and 2007, a total of 64 Thai dried coffee bean samples (Coffea arabica) from two growing sites of Chiangmai Province, and 32 Thai dried coffee bean samples (Coffea canephora) from two growing sites of Chumporn Province, Thailand, were collected and assessed for fumonisin contamination by black Aspergilli. No Fusarium species known to produce fumonisin were detected, but black Aspergilli had high incidences on both Arabica and Robusta Thai coffee beans. Liquid chromatography (LC) with high resolution mass spectrometric (HRMS) detection showed that 67% of A. niger isolates from coffee beans were capable of producing fumonisins B2 (FB2) and B4 when grown on Czapek Yeast Agar with 5% NaCl. Small amounts (1-9.7 ng/g) of FB2 were detected in 7 of 12 selected coffee samples after ion-exchange purification and LC-MS/MS detection. Two samples also contained FB4. This is the first record of freshly isolated Aspergillus niger strains producing fumonisins and the first report on the natural occurrence of FB2 and FB4 in coffee.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Paramee Noonim, Warapa Mahakarnchanakulb, Kristian F Nielsen, Jens Frisvad, Robert A Samson. Fumonisin B2 production by Aspergillus niger from Thai coffee beans. Food Additives and Contaminants, 2009, 26 (01), pp.94-100. ⟨10.1080/02652030802366090⟩. ⟨hal-00577319⟩