[s5ma6n]

On a side note, try to keep eating figs in dried form at a moderate amount or avoid altogether if the source is "not reputable".

Dried figs are very susceptible to Aflatoxin B1(1) which is a very potent carcinogen from fungi. US food safety regulations allow 2-10 times more aflatoxin B1 in food compared to EU.

During my work, I had a chance to visit dried fig producers and saw even a couple of contaminated figs spreading to the rest of the stock like wildfire.

What you can do is to check your dried figs under UV light, and it should not shine. Here's an example image(2) I found.

Source: I have worked in the company as a machine vision engineer to develop aflatoxin detection systems with UV light.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aflatoxin_B1

2: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/21073?page...

[carb]

This is mentioned in the write-up actually near the end! The author notes on some fungus found and photographed.

[mjh2539]

Say I want to test figs that I grow and dry myself; reading the article, it looks like all I need to do is get a 365nm light and throw out the ones that have green/yellow inflorescence. Is that correct? How many watts should the light be?

[Abishek_Muthian]

Here are better photographs of contaminated Figs I found on Research Gate[1].

[1] https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Sample-photographs-taken...

[MrDresden]

Would fresh figs be less likely to carry the aflatoxin generating fungus?

[pvaldes]

High concentrations of salt or sugar act as an universal preservative. A dried fig shouldn't have fungus grow unless harvested after rain, or in a non mature state, or stored for too long in humid conditions.

White powder in the surface of dried fruits is not bad necessarily. Is a common sign of accumulation of fructose crystals that ooze during the drying process. Dried persimmons have it also. This powdery coat is desirable and adds a delicious floral taste, so is an error to wash the fig before eating it. Unless the fruit has been treated with something and it smells like chemicals shouldn't be a problem at all.

Smyrna [1] type figs will always have remains of fig-wasps inside. You can't produce a Smyrna without fig wasps. They are known as the best tasting figs exactly by this. The fig wasp pollinates the fruit and the fig seeds add a very desired crunchy and almond flavored taste to the sugary flesh. Much better than the other types of figs by a mile. Wasps are a few millimeters only and don't taste line anything.

Smyrna figs can be cultured only in Mediterranean and hot climates. If you don't want wasps, can be easily avoided buying only the common varieties of figs that never had seeds inside. The origin of the product in a "cold" area will guarantee this.

[1] (Smyrna is a Turkish city famous by its figs that named an entire category, so lets assume that Turkish figs are "Smyrna" type and not "common" or "San Pedro").

[Alex3917]

> You can't produce a Smyrna without fig wasps.

You can actually just hand pollinate them, as long as you have a caprifig tree. There are lots of tutorials on YouTube. It’s starting to take off as a trend among cold weather growers in places like New England.

[ge96]

well that's a cool application of machine vision, TIL

[noduerme]

How does this look on a dried fig? I remember eating plenty when I was a child that had some whitishness on the outside.

[s5ma6n]

They are not noticeable under visible light, so contaminated figs look totally normal except under UV and/or IR light. You can check out the link (2) above or this one:

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Sample-photographs-taken...

[boringg]

Can you define a reputable source?