Mold Content of Commercial Popcorn

Internal mold infection levels for microwave yellow pop-corn, nonmicrowave white popcorn, nonmicrowave yellow pop-corn and specialty popcorn were determined by direct plating of kernels on Dichloran-rose bengal-chloramphenicol agar (DRBC), Dichloran-18% glycerol agar (DG-18), Aspergillus flavus/ parasiticus agar (AFPA) and Czapek's iprodione agar (CZID). The total percentage of mold-infected kernels was low in micro-wave yellow popcorn (5.9%) and nonmicrowave yellow popcorn (7.3%), but somewhat higher in specialty popcorn (13.6%) and nonmicrowave white popcorn (15.1%). Of the molds found, Fusarium species predominated in me microwave yellow pop-corn (54.2%) and nonmicrowave white popcorn (66.2%), whereas Aspergillus species predominated in me nonmicrowave yellow popcorn (43.8%) and specialty popcorn (52.9%). Of the Fusarium species isolated, F. moniliforme was the predominant species in all types of popcorn including microwave yellow (70.4%), nonmicrowave white (70.4%), nonmicrowave yellow (72.3%) and specialty popcorn (85.7%). Other Fusarium species found were F. proliferatum, F. semitectum, F. subglutinans, F. anthophilum, and F. graminearum. The presence of the Aspergil-lus flavus-parasiticus group was negligible in the popcorn samples evaluated. No significant differences were found among media in enumerating total mold infection levels. DG-18 was found to be effective in enumerating Aspergillus species, but ineffective in enumerating Fusarium species from popcorn. No significant differences were found among other media in enumerating As-pergillus and Fusarium species.