New insights on fungi and mycotoxins in cured meat products

Cured meats are widely consumed in various regions of the world and, as for other foods, consumers are increasingly aware of the need for better quality and safety. The most internationally recognized are dry-cured hams and dry-fermented sausages. However, care is needed in describing the processing of cured meats because of the numerous types existing around the world. After the preparing process and the use of different ingredients, according to the various recipes, and sometimes the addition of bacterial starters, the curing phase starts. Various fungal communities can colonize meat products during their curing with beneficial or detrimental effects depending on the dominant species. Some contribute to flavour, anti-oxidative and protective effects, while others cause spoilage, including undesirable off-flavours/odours and mycotoxin contamination. However, the nature and the composition of mycobiota on the meat products surface has always been a matter for debate; being yeasts generally considered as favourable, while the presence of some filamentous moulds on the casings is considered desirable in Mediterranean style sausages, and usually not in Northern types of sausages. Moreover, the duration of the curing phase also influences the growth of microorganisms on the surface of these products. The use of selected fungal strains in relation to the specific ripening process is very useful to improve and standardize the quality of the final product, but also to protect it against undesired and/or toxigenic fungi. In this respect, increasing researches on fungal ecophysiology and mycotoxin occurrence in cured meat, mainly ochratoxin A and at later extent aflatoxins, evidenced the importance that cured meat products should follow a strict quality control to become safe for the consumers. Ecological, quality and safety aspect, mainly focused on the importance of critical control points and effective use of new monitoring methods for evaluating the risk of mycotoxin contamination of these products, should be based on the existing and new knowledge on the most relevant fungi and mycotoxins occurring in cured meat production processes.