Natural Occurrence of Mycotoxin and Fungi in Korean Rice

Research in Plant Disease 2012;18(4):261-267.
Published online December 30, 2012.

국내산 미곡에 발생하는 곰팡이와 곰팡이독소

이데레사 ( Theresa Lee ) , 이수형 ( Soo Hyung Lee ) , 이정화 ( Jeong Hwa Lee ) , 윤종철 ( Jong Chul Yun ) , 오경석 ( Kyeong Suk Oh )

Natural Occurrence of Mycotoxin and Fungi in Korean Rice

Theresa Lee*, Soohyung Lee, Jeong-Hwa Lee, Jong-Chul Yun and Kyeong-Suk Oh

Microbial Safety Team, National Academy of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration, Suwon 441-707, Korea

Received: November 12, 2012 Revised: December 14, 2012 Accepted: December 15, 2012

Abstract

Inspection of deteriorated rices in Korea for fungal occurrence revealed that Aspergillus was the most frequently observed genus and some isolates of the Aspergillus spp. turned out to produce aflatoxin. Diverse fungal genera including Fusarium, Aspergillus, Penicillium, or Alternaria spp. were observed in most of the rice samples. Aflatoxin occurred infrequently and the levels of aflatoxin present in the rice samples were lower than regulatory limit but Fusarium toxins such as deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, zearalenone, and fumonisin occurred frequently. In rice processing complexes, fungal and mycotoxin contamination of rice decreased by milling process, resulting in the lowest level of mycotoxin and fungi in polished rice. Currently, it appears that Korean rice and milled by-products need a safety control for Fusarium toxins rather than aflatoxin.

Key Words: Contamination, Fusarium toxin, Mycoflora, Paddy, Polished rice