Aspergillus ochraceus is a soil fungus known to produce ochratoxin A, a harmful secondary metabolite. Prevention and control of fungal pathogens mostly rely on chemical fungicides, which is one of the contributing factors in the emergence of the fungal resistance, hence novel methods for fungal eradication have been extensively researched. The cold atmospheric pressure (CAP) plasma generated in ambient air has been recently applied in microbial decontamination. Here we used the diffuse coplanar surface barrier discharge in inactivation of a toxigenic strain A. ochraceus. The plasma-treated conidia and mycelium exhibited morphological changes such as ruptures and desiccation. Mycelium dehydration and changes in the chemical composition of hyphal surface accompanied plasma treatment. The growth of 26 h old mycelia were significantly restricted after 30 s of plasma treatment. The conidial vitality declined 4 logs after 180 s of plasma exposure leading to almost complete decontamination. After shorter plasma treatment of conidia, the ochratoxin A (OTA) production increased at the early stage of cultivation, but the overall level was significantly reduced compared to untreated samples after longer cultivation. Our results indicated that the fungal growth and the OTA production were significantly changed by plasma treatment and underscored CAP plasma as a promising method in the decontamination of A. ochraceus without a risk to generate strains with increased OTA production.

曲霉是一种土壤真菌，已知会产生曲霉毒素A（有害的次生代谢产物）。真菌病原体的防治主要依靠化学杀真菌剂，化学杀真菌剂是引起真菌抗药性的重要因素之一，因此对真菌根除的新方法进行了广泛的研究。最近在环境空气中产生的冷大气压（CAP）等离子体已应用于微生物净化。在这里，我们使用了共平面扩散的表面势垒放电来灭活产毒菌株曲霉。。等离子体处理的分生孢子和菌丝体表现出诸如破裂和干燥的形态变化。伴随等离子处理，菌丝体脱水和菌丝表面化学成分的变化。血浆处理30 s后，26 h老菌丝体的生长受到明显限制。血浆暴露180 s后，分生孢子活力下降了4 log，导致几乎完全去污。经过较短的分生孢子血浆处理后，och曲毒素A（OTA）产量在培养的早期阶段有所增加，但与更长的培养时间后未处理的样品相比，总体水平显着降低。我们的结果表明，血浆处理显着改变了真菌的生长和OTA的产生，强调了CAP血浆是一种有前景的去污方法。草无风险产生OTA产量增加的菌株。