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. 1972 Nov;24(5):721–726. doi: 10.1128/am.24.5.721-726.1972

Identification of the Predominant Volatile Compounds Produced by Aspergillus flavus

E Kaminśki a, L M Libbey a,1, S Stawicki a, E Wasowicz a
PMCID: PMC380652  PMID: 4629700

Abstract

A culture of Aspergillus flavus grown on moistened wheat meal was homogenized with a blendor, and the resulting slurry was vacuum-distilled at 5 mm of Hg and 35 C. The aqueous distillate was collected in traps cooled to -10 to -80 C. The culture volatiles were extracted from the distillate with CH2Cl2, and, after removal of the bulk of the solvent, the concentrated volatiles were examined by packed-column gas chromatography. Nineteen peaks were observed, and coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was employed to identify the larger components. The compounds identified were: 3-methyl-butanol, 3-octanone, 3-octanol, 1-octen-3-ol, 1-octanol, and cis-2-octen-1-ol. The two octenols were the predominant compounds, and sufficient sample was trapped from the gas chromatograph for infrared analyses; this confirmed the mass spectral identifications and permitted the assignment of the cis designation to 2-octen-1-ol. Both oct-1-en-3-ol and cis-2-octen-1-ol are thought to be responsible for the characteristic musty-fungal odor of certain fungi; the latter compound may be a useful chemical index of fungal growth.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Anjou K., von Sydow E. The aroma of cranberries. II. Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait. Acta Chem Scand. 1967;21(8):2076–2082. doi: 10.3891/acta.chem.scand.21-2076. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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