Influence of inoculum size on aflatoxin production in home-made yoghurt.

In previous works we have studied the influence of different factors on the aflatoxin production in yoghurt. In the present paper we complete our investigations with the study of the influence of the inoculum size.The inoculum sizes used by us were from 4 × 10(1) to 4 × 10(6). As can be expected, the fungal growth, expressed as dry mycelium weight, was lower in 4 × 10(1) and higher in 4 × 10(6).The amount of aflatoxin in the mycelium was stable, or increased slightly with the inoculum size. In the substrate, the amount of aflatoxin was stable with little fluctuations, with a higher level of toxin in 4 × 10(3) and lower one in 4 × 10(6). We detected a higher aflatoxin level in the mycelium than in the substrate.