Safety Evaluation and Whole Genome Sequencing of <i>Aspergillus japonicas</i> PJ01 Reveal Its Potential to Degrade Citrus Segments in Juice Processing

• Main Authors: Yujiao Qian, Zhipeng Gao, Jieyi Wang, Chen Wang, Gaoyang Li, Fuhua Fu, Jiajing Guo, Yang Shan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
• Series: Foods
• Subjects: <i>Aspergillus japonicas</i> PJ01; segments degradation; gizzard juice process; safety evaluation; genome sequencing
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/10/8/1736

<i>Aspergillus japonicas</i> PJ01 (<i>A. japonicas</i> PJ01) is a strain isolated from the rotten branches. In previ-ous studies, it was shown that it can produce complex enzymes to degrade polysaccharide com-ponents. In this study, we evaluated the safety of its crude enzyme solution. Acute oral toxicity, subchronic toxicity, micronucleus and sperm malformation tests all validated the high biologi-cal safety for the crude enzymes. Secondly, we carried out the citrus segment degradation ex-periment of crude enzyme solution. Compared with the control group, the crude enzyme solu-tion of <i>A. japonicas</i> PJ01 can completely degrade the segments in 50 min, which provides the basis for enzymatic peeling during juice processing. The whole genome sequencing showed that the genome of <i>A. japonicus</i> PJ01 has a GC content of 51.37% with a size of 36204647 bp, and encoded 10070 genes. GO, COG, KEGG and CAZy databases were used in gene annotation analyses. Pathway enrichment showed many genes related to carbohydrate metabolism, rich in genes re-lated to pectinase, xylanase and carboxylcellulase. Therefore, the complex enzyme produced by <i>A. japonicus</i> PJ01 can be used in gizzard juice processing to achieve efficient enzymatic decapsu-lation.