Aspergillus

Aspergillus is a large genus of moulds in the class Hyphomycetes that touches food science on every side, for good and ill. Species such as A. flavus, A. parasiticus, and A. niger cause food spoilage and produce mycotoxins including aflatoxins, cyclopiazonic acid, ochratoxins, and patulin, making them priority targets of storage hygiene and regulatory limits. Yet the same genus is industrially invaluable: A. niger is used to produce citric acid and enzymes such as amylases, catalases, proteinases, and lipases, while A. oryzae drives koji fermentation for miso, sake, and soy sauce. Managing Aspergillus therefore means suppressing the harmful species in commodities while harnessing the useful ones under controlled fermentation.