A study on the occurrence of citrinin and citrinin production ability of Penicillium spp. isolated from decaying apples collected from households in Croatia was carried out. Among 100 samples of apples, 37 strains of Penicillium spp. were found, including P. expansum, P. roqueforti, P. implicatum and P. purpurogenum. Citrinin production in liquid yeast medium by 11 strains of P. expansum varied in a range of 0.07 to 9.00 mg.kg-1. Citrinin was isolated from 19% of apple samples in range of 0.05 to 0.24 mg.kg-1. Antimicrobial activity of isolated citrinin, evaluated through tests on Bacillus subtilis, presented inhibitory zones varying from 5 mm to 1 cm. Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were 0.0072 µg.mL-1 for bacteriostatic effect, and 0.0144 µg.mL-1 for bactericidal effect.
citrinin; Penicillium expansum; decaying apples; antimicrobial activity
