THE EFFECT OF INTENSE LIGHT PULSED TREATMENT ON ASPERGILLUS FLAVUS (MI 148) SPORES

Abstract

Aspergillus are highly aerobic, widely spread moulds species that can be found in almost all oxygen enriched environments, where they commonly grow on the surface of a substrate. Aspergillus species are common contaminants of cereals and grow on many plants. Not all Aspergillus strains are toxicogenic and cause illnesses. However, some highly toxicogenic strains can produce mycotoxins as secondary metabolites, with a strong negative impact on human and animal health. Intense light pulsed treatment (ILP) is one of the minimal technologies that has been proven effective for killing a wide variety of microorganisms. The objective of this study was to understand the influence of different ILP conditions on mould spores survival. The ILP treatment was applied for lamp tensions 1400, 1600 and 1800 V, for different durations (2 – 30) x 10-3 s. The effect of the experimental conditions was expressed by counting the colonies and the results were modeled with nonlinear regression logistic equation using SAS System for Windows 9 software.