Prevention of Penicillium nordicum growth and Ochratoxin A on Sausages with ozonated air

Molds play an important role in flavor of fermented sausage production. However mycotoxinogenic species are common sausage contaminants, too. Penicillium nordicum, represents the main toxinogenic species isolated from artisanal sausages of different area of Lombardy, a region in the North of Italy, and of Europe. P.nordicum growing on the surface of sausages, produces Ochratoxin A (OTA), which penetrating the meat, can be a potential health risk for consumers. The presence of OTA on casing represent an additional risk, because in Italy consumers are used to eat both meat and casing of artisanal sausages. To avoid the growth of P.nordicum does not appear effective in reducing OTA, in particular in artisanal facilities where it is impossible to check the parameters of Production (Umidity Relative, Temperature, Time). Therefore other systems are needed to prevent its growth to eliminate OTA from sausage. Different methods are proposed, including brushing and washing sausages or by spreading starter cultures on the casings before drying and ripening (Iacumin et al., 2009). By applying both systems, OTA concentration was reduced but nevertheless it is used to find artisanal sausages with OTA on the casing or inside the meat. Moreover the use of starter cultures is not choose by some producers, because they think that the sausages must be done without any additives or ingredients excepted salt, pepper and nitrate and nitrite. Considering the OTA (Italian Law limit < 1 μg/Kg) and A.ochraceus represent a problem for artisanal sausages, the aim of this study was to prevent the growth of P.nordicum to eliminate the risk of OTA in sausages with the use of ozonated air during the first stage of ripening. The use of ozonated air has prevented the growth of P.nordicum and consequently the presence of OTA on sausages. This is the second report of the use of ozonated air to limit mold growth on meat products (Iacumin et al., 2012). The experiment demonstrated that ozone is an effective method to prevent potentially toxigenic mold contamination and growth. At the end of ripening, no OTA was found on casings of treated samples whereas it was found on not-treated ones ( > 1 μg/Kg). The use of ozone did not influence the ripening, the physico-chemical parameters, the peroxide value and the sensorial characteristic of the sausages. Our data suggest that the presence of OTA on sausage surfaces could represent a food health risk only when the molds are not removed from casings. To reduce the health risk, for consumers that are used to eat both meat and casing of artisanal sausages, we suggest to limit the growth by treatment with ozonated air during drying and ripening. However, despite, these good result, we think that the use of starter molds is the best technology to eliminate the risk of OTA and OTA producing mold. To eliminate completely the risk, it is sufficient to inoculate starter mold cultures after the casing and after the end of drying. In this way the mold cultures inhibites the OTA producing molds during all the period of ripening. Keywords: fermented Sausages, Ochratoxin A, Penicillum nordicum, ozonated air