Journal of Food Science and Engineering 3 (2013) 472-480 Ochratoxigenic Black Aspergilli Isolated from Dried Agricultural Products in Yogyakarta, Indonesia Apriyanto Dwi Nugroho 1 , Francis Maria Constance Sigit Setyabudi 1 , Baharuddin Salleh 2 and Endang Sutriswati Rahayu 1 1. Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 2. School of Biological Science, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia Received: June 25, 2013 / Published: September 20, 2013. Abstract: Black aspergilli, the potential ochratoxin A (OTA) producers, were predominant fungi in fermented cocoa bean, coffee bean and dried cassava in Yogyakarta. Identification of black aspergilli at species level will be useful to make clear link between OTA contamination on food product and the toxin producer. The objective of this study was to identify the species of the black aspergilli producing OTA which contaminated dried agriculture products. In this study, 16 isolates were obtained, and four isolates among of them (YAC-9, YAK-6, YAK-12 and YAG-2) were found as OTA producing-strains, with the highest OTA found on Yeast Extract Sucrose (YES) solid medium of 57.68 ppb. Based on morphological characters, 16 isolates can be grouped into four species, after confirmation by molecular data based on PCR method, the groups were identified as A. carbonarius, A. niger, A. tubingensis and A. aculeatus. OTA producing-strains were identified as A. carbonarius and A. niger, meanwhile, A. tubingensis and A. aculeatus were found as non-OTA producing-strains. Key words: Black aspergilli, ochratoxin A (OTA), PCR. 1. Introduction Yogyakarta is a part of Indonesia which has tropical climate, with many agricultural products, such as cocoa, coffee beans and cassava. Farmers play roles in on-farm production, which sun-drying is usually included in their post-harvest practices. Sun-drying is the critical process for agricultural product before storage and further processes, due to the contamination of xerophilic and toxigenic fungi such as species of Aspergillus and Penicillium which are able to grow at a w 0.77 [1]. Aspergillus is potential in producing ochratoxin A (OTA), one of mycotoxin with carcinogenic and immunotoxic effects [2, 3]. Due to its health effects, European Union has set maximum limits of OTA in several foods [4], i.e., 5 ppb for roasted coffe bean and 0.5 ppb for baby food, furthermore, this legal Corresponding author: Endang Sutriswati Rahayu, professor, research field: food microbiology. E-mail: endangsrahayu@ugm.ac.id. regulation will influence international trade in several food commodities. Black aspergilli were the predominant group of Aspergillus which contaminated Robusta dried coffee cherry in Thailand [1], and the main source of OTA contamination in coffee, grapes and others agricultural products [5-7]. Identification black aspergilli at species level is very important to draw the link between species and OTA contamination in dried agricultural products. Identification methods using macroscopic and microscopic characters in appropriate media will be time consuming, low of sensitivity and sometimes misidentification can occur [6, 8]. On the other sides, molecular identification using PCR-based methods are considered good methods for rapid identification due to sensitivity and specificity [9]. The PCR amplification and sometimes followed by subsequent restriction of the ribosomal region spanning the internal transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS2) and the 5.8S rRNA is accepted D DAVID PUBLISHING