On the safety of Mortierella alpina for the production of food ingredients, such as arachidonic acid.

Mortierella alpina is the most efficient production organism for arachidonic acid (AA) presently known. Since AA is being developed as a food ingredient, and since M. alpina has no history of use for such applications, we have undertaken this safety evaluation. M. alpina is a common soil fungus, to which humans are frequently exposed. The production strains are non-pathogenic and do not form potentially allergenic spores under production conditions. Moreover, there are no reliable reports in the literature connecting the species with disease or allergenic responses. No production of mycotoxins was observed, in line with the absence of literature reports describing such products, and with the results of toxicological tests. On solid growth media the strains showed antibiotic activity against Gram-positive bacteria. In submerged culture, which is used for AA production, no significant antibiotic activity was found. We conclude that M. alpina in general, and the AA production strains CBS 168.95 and CBS 169.95 in particular, should be considered safe for the submerged production of food ingredients.