Byssochlamys spp in sugarcane juice and its significance

<p align="justify">Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) juice is a popular tropical drink. During standardization of aseptic processing conditions of sugarcane juice, a breakdown in the processing plant resulted in underprocessed juice tetrapaks. Thermostable molds belonging to Byssochlamys spp, identified as B. nivea and B. fulva were isolated from these samples. The mycotoxin
patulin was absent in all the contaminated sugarcane juice tetrapaks. However, sugarcane juice supported the growth
of B. nivea, B. fulva and a standard strain of B. nivea (MTCC-1992). The elaboration of patulin in sugarcane juice
inoculated with B. nivea (MTCC-1992) was confirmed by HPLC. Patulin production was higher in sugarcane juice (669
ng/ml) than in Czapek Dox medium (121 ng/ml) at 20°C. Incubation at 20°C was more conducive than at 35°C for
patulin production. The study showed that the toxigenic B. nivea is capable of elaborating patulin at lower temperature
in sugarcane juice.</p>