FIELD EVALUATION OF BIOCONTROL AGENT AND NOVEL APPLICATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL EDIBLE FILM IN POSTHARVEST STORAGE FOR REDUCING AFLATOXIN IN FOOD

• Sponsoring Institution: Agricultural Research Service/USDA
• Project Status: ACTIVE
• Funding Source: USDA COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0427592
• Project Start Date: Sep 30, 2014
• Project End Date: Sep 29, 2019
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Project Director
HUA S T

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
410 MRAK HALL
DAVIS,CA 95616-8671

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
(N/A)

Animal Health Component

40%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

20%

Applied

40%

Developmental

40%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
712	1219	1060	100%

Knowledge Area
712 - Protect Food from Contamination by Pathogenic Microorganisms, Parasites, and Naturally Occurring Toxins;

Subject Of Investigation
1219 - Edible tree nuts, general/other;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems);

Keywords

biocontrol

aspergillus

flavus

yeast

antimicrobial

edible

films

aflatoxin

nuts

fruits

Goals / Objectives
Test the potential of newly discovered Aspergillus flavus strains (with deletion in aflatoxin biosynthetic genes) for control of toxigenic A. flavus; Test new yeast strains for beneficial application in pistachio; analyze A. flavus populations in orchard soil. Explore the potential of antibiotic films to prevent fungal growth in stored fruits and nuts.

Project Methods
Newly discovered atoxigenic strains will be tested for their potential to displace toxigenic A. flavus in soils. The research will be done initially in the lab using soils planted with pistachio trees to screen and select effective strains. Formulation will be developed for field evaluation. Yeast biocontrol experiments will be conducted in field environments using Kerman pistachio. Aspergillus flavus will be isolated from tree nut orchard soils and characterized for levels of aflatoxin production. Antimicrobial films is a new research area with considerable potential to prevent fungal growth in both stored fresh fruits and nuts. It is expected that methodologies for application will be developed. Access to the University of California Davis (UC Davis) postharvest facilities will be arranged to evaluate efficacy.