[Detection of fungal metabolites showing toxic activity through Artemia salina bioassay]. / Detección de metabolitos fúngicos con actividad tóxica mediante bioensayo sobre Artemia salina.

The aim of this study was to detect toxic metabolites from fungi contaminating food and medicinal herbs by applying the toxicity assay to Artemia salina. According to toxicity percentages, the extracts were classified as nontoxic (NT), slightly toxic (ST), toxic (T) and highly toxic (HT). Those classified as T and HT were assayed for mycotoxins. Only 6 out of 71 strains were found to be T (8.5%) for A. salina. Penicillium brevicompactum Dierckx, isolated from sausages, was found to be HT, mainly due to the presence of ochratoxin A and two other unidentified metabolites.