title: Fungi in bottled water: a case study of a production plant.
abstract: A one-year fungal survey of a water bottling plant was conducted in order to evaluate the incidence and fluctuations of the mycobiota. The dominant fungal genera in order of highest numbers isolated were Penicillium, Cladosporium and Trichoderma followed by Aspergillus, Paecilomyces, and others. As expected, the highest number of isolates were collected during the warmer months, particularly May and June. Indeed during these two months there were more fungi present in the water, indicating that during those times of the year when fungal contamination is high, 0.4 mm filters should be changed on a more regular basis. In order to assess whether contamination was single or multi-loci, molecular methods based on the PCR were used for Penicillium brevicompactum. Overall, fungal contamination arose from multiple sources. Some P. brevicompactum strains were very "alike" and were detected during different sampling times, indicating that they were endemic to the plant. There was no evidence to suggest that fungi detected in the source water passed through to other parts of the plant. However, there was evidence that fungal strains isolated from the water filter were detected elsewhere in the factory, confirming the need to change filters more regularly during periods of high fungal contamination. In order to improve quality control a HACCP programme was implemented and Best Practice Guidelines introduced.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Engenharia Biológica, and Micoteca da Universidade do Minho, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: A Patrícia
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.forename: Zofia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kozakiewicz
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: Belinda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Luke
authors.forename: Alan G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Buddie
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Venancio
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kelly
mesh_terms: D000391:Air Microbiology; D002963:Cladosporium / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D005374:Filtration; D018857:Food Packaging; D005525:Food-Processing Industry / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D005658:Fungi / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005898:Glass; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats; D010407:Penicillium / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011093:Polyethylene Terephthalates; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011174:Portugal; D012621:Seasons; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014881:Water Supply / Q000592:standards
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D011093:Polyethylene Terephthalates