DEVELOPMENT OF THE REAL-TIME PCR METHODOLOGY FOR TESTING MYCOTOXIGENIC MICROORGANISMS IN GRAPE MARC

Agro-industrial waste management is an important problem of modern society as agriculture and food industry are important sources of waste. Wine production generates a considerable amount of winemaking waste (grape marc). Grape marc can be a source of natural dyes, antioxidants and could have various applications, if it is confirmed that it does not contain technogenic contaminants or unwanted microorganisms, for example, producers of mycotoxins. The paper developed the Real -Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (Real-Time PCR) methodology for testing the presence of potentially mycotoxogenic fungal species capable of producing ochratoxin A (OTA), which could be applied before grape marc processing. Based on the non-ribosomal peptide sequence of OTA, involved in ochratoxin biosynthesis, the primers have been developed for the detection of microorganisms potentially capable of producing ochratoxin A.