The growth environment of mold:

One of the main conditions for mold growth and reproduction is to keep a certain amount of water, Aw (water activity

The closer to 1, the easier it is for microorganisms to grow and reproduce. When the water activity in food is 0.98. Microorganisms are the easiest to grow and reproduce. When Aw is lower than 0.93, microbial reproduction is inhibited, but mold can still grow.

Temperature has an important influence on the reproduction and toxin production of mold. The optimum temperature of different kinds of molds is different. The optimum temperature of most molds is 25 ~ 30℃, and if it is lower than 0℃ or higher than 30℃, it will not produce toxin or weaken its toxicity.

Just like the growth and reproduction conditions of other microorganisms, the growth of mold in different food substrates is different. Generally speaking, the possibility of mold growth in nutritious foods is greater, and natural substrates produce toxins better than artificial media.

Methods to prevent food from becoming moldy:

Anti-mildew by indigenous method Adding 100 kg kelp into 1 00 kg rice can effectively kill pests and inhibit mold. Although there are many ways to prevent mildew, it is limited to eliminate the harm of mycotoxin, so don't be stingy with some moldy food, be sure to throw it away in time, and don't eat it with luck, otherwise it will cause food poisoning.

Most molds preserved in hypoxia are aerobic microorganisms, which need oxygen for growth and reproduction. Therefore, filling nitrogen or carbon dioxide into sterilized bottled (canned) food, adding deoxidizer, tamping the food, degassing or sealing with oil can create an anoxic environment and prevent most molds from reproducing. For example:

● Soy sauce: Drop a layer of cooked soybean oil or sesame oil in the bottle filled with soy sauce to isolate soy sauce from the air and prevent mold growth.

● Sausage and meat pickled food: dip a cotton swab in a little vegetable oil or sesame oil and evenly spread it on its surface to prevent mildew.

● Vinegar: Add a little sesame oil or cooked peanut oil to the vinegar bottle to isolate the vinegar from the air and prevent long white film.

● Dry products such as dried fragrant shavings, fungus, dried bamboo shoots and dried shrimps are kept in sealed containers.

Food is best kept in a ventilated and dry environment.

Moldy corn

Low-temperature mildew-proof meat food can be stored for 20 days at 0℃; The rice cake can be completely immersed in a porcelain jar filled with water, and the water temperature can be kept below 10℃, which can prevent mildew.

Heating sterilization for most molds, heating to 80℃ for 20 minutes can kill them; Mold has weak radiation resistance, so it can be killed by radiation from radioisotopes. However, aflatoxin is resistant to high temperature, and pasteurization (80℃) cannot destroy its toxicity.

The harvested grain should be aired in time and stored in a ventilated and dry environment. In rural areas, if it is found that there is only a small amount of mildew in stored grain, the following methods can be adopted: (1) manually picking out moldy corn, peanuts and other large particles; Moldy wheat, rice and other small particles can be washed away by rinsing.