Discussion of a Master’s Thesis
The Department of biology at the College of Education for Pure Sciences/University of Karbala discussed the master’s thesis entitled (The effect of aqueous and alcoholic extract of sage on some fungi producing aflatoxin isolated from some milk products), by the student (Amal Salem Hadi), and under the supervision of a Prof. Ban Musa Hassan. The thesis aimed at knowing the extent of fungi contamination of dairy products traded in our local markets, isolating fungi from dairy products, diagnosing toxic ones from them both morphologically and molecularly, and testing the efficiency of the water and alcoholic extract of sagebrush plant in inhibiting poisonous fungi isolated from dairy products with different concentrations in the hope that it can be used as a preservative for products Dairy instead of chemical preservatives that preserve dairy products on the one hand and harm the health of the consumer on the other hand, thus producing dairy free from fungal toxins and preservative toxins. The results of the study showed a high percentage of fungi contamination in the collected dairy products, especially imported canned products, and that most of the isolated fungi were aflatoxin-producing ones.
The researcher recommended the use of natural plants, if possible, as preservatives for canned products instead of carcinogenic chemical preservatives, because natural plants are safe, useful, and abundantly available. Consumer health is the responsibility of everyone who deals with these products. We also recommend that factory owners use air purification systems, which are essential in dairy factories to reduce the level of mold spores to less than 50-100 molds and yeasts per square meter, and one of these systems is the use of high-density filters (HEPA) because they are designed to remove 90-99% of particles . The student received an honors grade.
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