Abstract
Mycotoxins are toxins produced by aspergillus, a type of fungus that can be found virtually everywhere and their toxicity occurs at very low concentrations. For good storage condition of the post-harvest grains, the sensitive and reliable methods for detecting mycotoxins are required for long-term sustainability of animals ingesting excessive amounts of the toxin from chronic health problem to death. The aspergillus grows rapidly in the air with high relative humidity contrast to the air with low relative humidity. In this study, the samples of maize were randomly collected in three sectors: Nyamata, Gakenke and Mahembe. Using selective media and biochemical tests, the three strains; A. flavus, capable of producing both B- and G-type aflatoxin and A. pseudotamarii which has not previously detected in our region and A. parasiticus, isolated from the collected maize and the total aflatoxin (AFT) in maize flour was evaluated by Reveal Q+; the mean concentrations of AFT were 52.3±3.93 CFU/ml for Mahembe sector, 49.5±0.98 CFU/ml for Gakenke sector and 43.7±2.15 CFU/ml for Nyamata sector. The level of AFT contamination in a, b, c sectors was higher than the maximum tolerable limit of aflatoxins recommended by the United States Food and Drug Administration guidelines for aflatoxin in animal feeds and human foods at 20 parts per billion (20 ppb).
Highlights
Many agricultural commodities are vulnerable to fungi that produce mycotoxins
Among the mycotoxins; aflatoxins produced by Aspergillus species has assumed significance owing to their widespread occurrence and many individuals are chronically exposed to high levels of aflatoxins in their diets
The microscopic methods like wet mounts, Gram stains were used for identification of strains; and culture media optimization revealed both media rely upon the formation of a bright orange-yellow reverse pigment by Aspergillus flavus and related species
Summary
Among the mycotoxins; aflatoxins produced by Aspergillus species has assumed significance owing to their widespread occurrence and many individuals are chronically exposed to high levels of aflatoxins in their diets. These products frequently affected by aflatoxin are maize, peanuts, cotton seed, milo, and the majority of tree nuts [1]. Maize is one of the most widely distributed food plants in the world and it’s infection by fungi can result mycotoxin contamination for the time of growing, harvesting, storage, transporting and processing stages [5]. This study was focused on identification of corn maize borne pathogen and determination of total aflatoxins in maize flour in order to know the level of contaminants in local maize, comparing to international standard value of aflatoxin
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