Conidial production by Penicillium nalgiovense for use as starter cultures in dry fermented sausages by solid state fermentation

Penicillium nalgiovense is the typical species used as starter culture on the casing of dry fermented sausages and it has been often produced by solid state fermentation (SSF). Soy beans, maize kernels and wheat bran (WB) at 50% humidity were tested as substrates in SSF for conidial production and viability in P. nalgiovense. Among them WB was the best substrate for conidial production and viability. Thus, WB proved to be a suitable and convenient choice for conidial production by P nalgiovense in SSF. By analysing conidial production on different membranes in malt extract agar (MEA) and WB no differences were observed between different treatments for the same substrate. Therefore, the practical choice of the inert support seems to be filter paper. A natural substrate like WB together with membranes as support helped the production of viable conidia by SSF as starters for dry fermented sausages. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.