Growth of moulds inoculated into commercial mineral water

The growth of mould spores of Penicillium sp. and Cladosporium sp. inoculat ed in a commercial mineral water product was studied. The strains had been isolated as fungal foreign bodies in commercial mineral waters. In product A, which was not originally sterilized and was contaminated with psychrophi lic bacteria, the inoculated mould spores of the strains did not grow; no i ncreases in viable colony counts or beta-glucans concentration in the sampl es were observed during storage. In a sterilized product A, inoculated spor es of the strains grew into visible foreign bodies. The viable colony count s and the beta-glucans concentration in the samples increased during storag e. These results showed that in a sterilized mineral water product, mould s pores could grow into visible foreign bodies.