Abstract
Fusarium spp. produce fumonisins - mycotoxins that are of importance to maize production in South Africa. Fumonisins have been associated with human oesophageal cancer and cause various diseases in animals that are of concern to the animal feed industry. Maize samples, collected from subsistence farm fields in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa during the 2006 and 2007 growing seasons, were analysed for Fusarium spp. and contamination with fumonisins. Fusarium verticillioides was the most common Fusarium species in maize followed by F. subglutinans and F. proliferatum. Levels of contamination with fumonisins ranged from 0 μg/g to 21.8 μg/g, depending on the region where samples were collected. Levels of fumonisins were highest in northern KwaZulu-Natal (Zululand) where 52% and 17% of samples collected in 2006 and 2007, respectively, exceeded 2 μg/g. Regression analyses showed a positive correlation between fumonisin-producing Fusarium spp. determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction and concentration of fumonisins (r = 0.93). Many samples from Zululand, and some from Mokopane (Limpopo) and Lusikisiki (Eastern Cape), contained fumonisins at levels well above the maximum levels of 2 μg/g set by the Food and Drug administration (USA) and therefore also the limit of 1 μg/g set by the European Union for food intended for direct human consumption. Regulations governing contamination of grain with fumonisins are not yet implemented in South Africa. The high incidence of fumonisins in subsistence farming systems indicates the need for awareness programmes and further research.
Highlights
Maize (Zea mays L.) is grown in two production systems in South Africa: intensive commercial farming systems and resource-poor subsistence farming systems
Fusarium verticillioides was the dominant Fusarium species in maize collected in Limpopo and Zululand and F. subglutinans was the dominant species in the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga provinces (Table 1)
Levels of fumonisins in some samples found in Venda and Mokopane (Limpopo), Lusikisiki (Eastern Cape) and Mbazwane, Jozini, Pongola and Manguzi (Zululand) far exceeded the maximum levels of 2 μg/g set by the US Food and Drug Administration in the USA27 and the 1 μg/g set by the European Union[28] for food intended for direct human consumption
Summary
Maize (Zea mays L.) is grown in two production systems in South Africa: intensive commercial farming systems and resource-poor subsistence farming systems. Average production amounts to approximately 9.2 million tonnes per annum, of which 8 million tonnes is utilised in the country as food and fodder.[1]. Depending on the surplus available, the remainder is exported to neighbouring countries.[2]. Because maize quality and yield is important to commercial producers in South Africa, they implement strategies that reduce losses. Subsistence farmers, lack the required resources to ensure production of quality grain from field planting through to consumption.[3]. With an insufficiency of hybrid seed, fertilisers and pesticides, their yield and product quality is often severely affected by poor soil fertility, fungal infections and pest damage.[4]
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