INTRODUCTION

Fungi are eukaryotic microorganisms that includes unicellular microorganisms such as yeasts
and molds. This experiment focuses on mold as they are major cause of food spoilage, forming
coloured,foreign material on spoiled food products. The most common type of fungi found on
food are filmentous fungi classified based on the arrangement of and type of spores (reproductive
or distributional cells) they produce.
Multicellular filamentous molds are molds made up of very fine threads (hyphae). Hyphae grow
at the tip and divide repeatedly along their length creating long and branching chains. The
hyphae keep growing and intertwining until they form a network of threads called a mycelium.
Some of the hyphal branches grow into the air and spores form on these aerial branches. Spores
are specialized structures with a protective coat that shields them from harsh environmental
conditions such as drying out and high temperatures. They are so small that between 500 1000
could fit on a pin head.Spores are produced on different structures depending on species.
Examples of spores produced by different genera of molds are conidiospores and
sporangiospores.
Conidiospores are spores that are produced in a chain from conidia where the conidium rests on
the end of specialized hyphae called a conidiophore.Another method by which spores are
produced is to enclose the spores within a sac-like structure called a sporangium. The spores
contained within are called sporangiospores. By using microscopic features of fungi such as
reproductive structures and macromacroscopic features such as color, a rough identification of
molds can be made. For this experiment, common mold on spoiled bread and tempe was allowed
to grow on streak plate and was examined using a microscope with an aim towards
identification.

MATERIALS

1. Pure cultures (PDA plates) of the following genera of moulds are provided
(a) Rhizopus spp.

(d) Aspergillus spp

(b) Mucor spp.

(c) Neurospora spp

(c) Penicillium spp

(d) Fusarium spp

2. Methylene blue staining

3. Cellophane tape
4. Microscope
5. 10% glycerol

6. Food sample (Tempe and bread)

7. PDA plates

CONCLUSION
Based on experiment that has been carried out, we definitely learned how to make pure culture
studies of the common molds in food such as tempe and bread. We also learned the different type
of spores produce by different genera of molds. In conclusion we manage to achieved our
experiment objectives.