Mould growth on traditional greek sausages and penicillin production by Penicillium isolates.

Visible moulds were isolated and identified from traditional Greek sausages from Northern Greece. Penicillium species were isolated from 90.8% of visibly mouldy sausages. Penicillium solitum, P. nalgiovense and P. commune species made up 60.6% of the total number of isolates. The most frequently occurring species was P. solitum (26.1%). P. nalgiovense and P. olsonii were found to be positive to penicillin production in an agar assay and further examination for antibiotic production in liquid culture with complex media designed for penicillin production, confirmed their ability for penicillin biosynthesis. Penicillin production by P. olsonii is reported for the first time in this study.