| Is it safe to eat moldy food cleaned? |
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Whether in the pantry of the kitchen in the basement or even in the refrigerator, they are still a small corner of paradise food. They, it is these characteristics that mold can flourish in almost all foodstuffs. These small masses cotton (the mycelium) that extend little by little, slowly but surely nibbling the food, are unsightly but can also be dangerous to health. Indeed, some fungi secrete toxic substances. They are therefore equipped with a remarkably impressive battery of chemical weapons. Their enzymes and acids are able to hydrolyze cellulose, lignin and many other compounds. This enables cells to digest mushrooms any type of food. And that is why foods contaminated by mold often become very soft and spongy. "Poisons" natural The molds have many other advantages. They can assimilate nitrogen as well as organic and mineral. Allowing them to grow on very poor in nitrogen or bacteria, for example, are unable to develop. Molds are also able to grow on poor open water, where bacteria s'avouent yet defeated. Molds are also stronger than the bacteria in regard to the acidity of foods: vegetables, fruits and meats are so many more "victims" of the mushrooms that bacteria. Similarly as regards the oxygen, which can mold itself to almost anything. And if their temperature "ideal" is between 20 ° C and 25 ° C, some like warm (40 ° C) and other cold, growing quietly below 4 ° C. These "performances" are molds that can make their bed almost all foods in all conditions. But they have other towers in their bag. Thus their reproduction. They use spores, tiny cells dehydrated reduced metabolism surrounded by a thick wall. These spores are produced in large quantities. They can survive very long and are very light. They can be released into the air, carried by insects and are therefore virtually everywhere. When they find favorable conditions in the presence of mostly water, they will like seeds and germinate 'to form a new mycelium. While some molds are beneficial and useful (eg the famous Penicillium roqueforti Roquefort), others produce what are called mycotoxins. Nearly 500 are listed with a hundred are toxic to mammals. And some are among the "poison" the most powerful natural that we know. This is the case of aflatoxins, the trichotécènes (for cereals) and patulin (for fruit, especially apples), the ochratoxins (cereals and meats) or zearalenone (maize). This fungal infection, which is a global health problem arises at all stages of food chains, crops and livestock processing industries, distribution and end up in our kitchens. So can we eat a food after partially moisi "scratched" mold? Well, no. Knowing that the mold sends "depth" of chemicals, some of which may be toxins, remove the superficial mycelium is not enough. And even if it is very low, may fall on a dangerous strain is real. |
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