title: A Rapid Assay to Detect Toxigenic Penicillium spp. Contamination in Wine and Musts.
abstract: Wine and fermenting musts are grape products widely consumed worldwide. Since the presence of mycotoxin-producing fungi may greatly compromise their quality characteristics and safety, there is an increasing need for relatively rapid "user friendly" quantitative assays to detect fungal contamination both in grapes delivered to wineries and in final products. Although other fungi are most frequently involved in grape deterioration, secondary infections by Penicillium spp. are quite common, especially in cool areas with high humidity and in wines obtained by partially dried grapes. In this work, a single-tube nested real-time PCR approach-successfully applied to hazelnut and peanut allergen detection-was tested for the first time to trace Penicillium spp. in musts and wines. The method consisted of two sets of primers specifically designed to target the β-tubulin gene, to be simultaneously applied with the aim of lowering the detection limit of conventional real-time PCR. The assay was able to detect up to 1 fg of Penicillium DNA. As confirmation, patulin content of representative samples was determined. Most of analyzed wines/musts returned contaminated results at >50 ppb and a 76% accordance with molecular assay was observed. Although further large-scale trials are needed, these results encourage the use of the newly developed method in the pre-screening of fresh and processed grapes for the presence of Penicillium DNA before the evaluation of related toxins.
authors: Dipartimento di Scienze del Suolo, della Pianta e degli Alimenti, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Via G. Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy. simonamarianna.sanzani@uniba.it.
authors: Simona Marianna
authors: SM
authors: Sanzani
authors: Dipartimento di Scienze del Suolo, della Pianta e degli Alimenti, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Via G. Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy. monicamarilena.miazzi@uniba.it.
authors: Monica Marilena
authors: MM
authors: Miazzi
authors: Dipartimento di Scienze del Suolo, della Pianta e degli Alimenti, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Via G. Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy. valentina.dirienzo@gmail.com.|Sinagri s.rl. Spin-off, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Via G. Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy. valentina.dirienzo@gmail.com.
authors: Valentina
authors: V
authors: di Rienzo
authors: Dipartimento di Scienze del Suolo, della Pianta e degli Alimenti, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Via G. Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy. valentina.fanelli@uniba.it.|Sinagri s.rl. Spin-off, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Via G. Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy. valentina.fanelli@uniba.it.
authors: Valentina
authors: V
authors: Fanelli
authors: Dipartimento di Scienze del Suolo, della Pianta e degli Alimenti, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Via G. Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy. giuseppe.gambacorta@uniba.it.
authors: Giuseppe
authors: G
authors: Gambacorta
authors: Agro.Biolab Laboratory s.r.l., SP240 km 13,800, 70018 Rutigliano (BA), Italy. taurinomariarosaria@gmail.com.
authors: Maria Rosaria
authors: MR
authors: Taurino
authors: Dipartimento di Scienze del Suolo, della Pianta e degli Alimenti, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Via G. Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy. cinzia.montemurro@uniba.it.|Sinagri s.rl. Spin-off, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Via G. Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy. cinzia.montemurro@uniba.it.
authors: Cinzia
authors: C
authors: Montemurro
mesh_terms: D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005285:Fermentation; D005516:Food Microbiology; D009183:Mycotoxins / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010407:Penicillium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D027843:Vitis / Q000382:microbiology*; D014920:Wine / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D009183:Mycotoxins
keywords: Penicillium detection; food safety; grape; mycotoxins