OCCURRENCE OF MONASCUS BARKERI IN 

 BOTTLED PICKLES 



Charles E. Lewis 



In December, 1909, a white growth of fungous mycehum was 

 observed in a bottle of pickles which had been purchased in Port- 

 land, Maine, but which came originally from a Chicago firm. The 

 unopened bottle was placed on a shelf in the laboratory and its 

 examination was neglected until March, 1910. At that time, the 

 upper half of the pickles was covered with mycelium almost pure- 

 white in color. 



Some of the material was examined with a microscope and it 

 was found that there were large numbers of fruit-bodies like 

 those of Monascus. The writer is familiar with the appearance 

 of both Monascus Barkeri Dangeard and Monascus purpureus 

 Went, having grown these fungi in cultures for about three years. 

 Plate cultures were made from some of the material from the 

 pickles and the fungus which developed agreed in its characters 

 with M. Barkeri. The fungus from the pickles and my cultures 

 of M. Barkeri, which were secured originally from the Associa- 

 tion Internationale des Botanistes, have been grown on the same 

 culture media under the same conditions for two months and they 

 appear to be identical. 



The occurrence of this fungus in a bottle of pickles from 

 Chicago is of interest because the fungus was first described from 

 material from eastern Asia, and, so far as the writer is aware, it 

 has never been reported as occurring in America. 



The spores of Monascus retain their viability for long periods 



of time, even when dry, so its occurrence in bottled pickles in 



this country is probably explained by assuming that the fungus 



was carried by some of the spices which were used. 



Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 Orono, Maine. 



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