DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2015.v03i09.009

Pages: 782-789

OTA is a toxin produced by fungal strains and responsible for toxic and carcinogenic effect. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of several factors such as drying surface, load of cherries and mixing frequency on fungal contamination during drying process. The fungal strains found in coffee before drying were Fusarium and Yeasts but mainly Aspergillus and Penicillium. Moreover, the level of fungal contamination in cherries rose sharply from (28.42 - 51.18 %) to reach a high rate at the end of drying (70.59 – 80.37 %). A statistical analysis of data, indicate a uniform distribution of initial microbial contamination in fresh cherries regardless the provenance. However, the provenance was found to influence the level of fungal contamination in dried coffee. Hence, the contamination of coffee cherries with Penicillium at the end of drying was 3-folds higher in coffee originating from traditional plantation in Bingerville than in coffee originating from CNRA experimental plantation, and 2-folds higher in coffee originating from traditional plantation in Divo. Additionally, the drying surface interacting with the mixing frequency was also found to impact on microbial contamination in drying cherries; mixing being more susceptible to propagating fungal strains in cherries. In contrast, the load of cherries and the drying surface separately was not found to influence the development of fungal strains in drying coffee.