Mold

This article is about the fungi. See also the manufacturing process molding. Mold or mould also refers to soil or earth, particularly soil that is loose and suitable for planting. Mold (Welsh Yr Wyddgrug) is the county town of Flintshire (and between 1974 and 1996, of Clwyd), North Wales. Population (2001) approx 9,500.

Cream cheese covered with mold

Molds (or moulds) are various fungi that cover surfaces as fluffy mycelium and usually produce masses of asexual, sometimes sexual spores. The molds are not an actual taxonomic or phylogenetic grouping - they can be found in the divisions Zygomycota, Deuteromycota or Ascomycota)

The presence of mold usually implies decay, although some molds are used deliberately in cheesemaking and for the production of antibiotics.

See also:

• toxic mold, Mycotoxin, Aflatoxin
• slime mold
• yeasts are a family of fungi closely related to molds.
• foods produced using cultured molds: cheese, tempeh, Quorn and some sausages
• indoor air quality
• mildew