Aplicació del disseny experimental en l'estudi dels factors que més influencien sobre la producció d'ocratoxina A per part d'Aspergillus ochraceus CECT 2948

The goal of the present work is to apply an experimental design, employing the possible lowest number of experiences, in order to know which or which factors exert a greater influence on the production of Ochratoxin A by Aspergillus ochraceus CECT 2948. The studied factors were: temperature, pH, incubation period, substrate, inoculation technique and presence of glycine in the substrate. Application of a fractional factorial design showed that intrinsic characteristics of food are the deciding factors that determine if a mould will be capable to produce OTA. Among the studied factors, temperature is the factor that can allow toxin production which interact more with the rest. Worthy of remark is that it has been demonstrated that, when a fungal strain grows in a limited area, it produces a higher amount of toxin than when it is developed with more homogeneity in the substrate.