Fungal Diversity and Aflatoxins in Maize and Rice Grains and Cassava-Based Flour (Pupuru) from Ondo State, Nigeria

• Main Authors: Daniella O. Ekpakpale, Bart Kraak, Martin Meijer, Kolawole I. Ayeni, Jos Houbraken, Chibundu N. Ezekiel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Journal of Fungi
• Subjects: aflatoxin; food safety; maize; mycology; Nigeria; pupuru
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/7/8/635

Grains and cassava-based foods serve as major dietary sources for many households in Nigeria. However, these foods are highly prone to contamination by moulds and aflatoxins owing to poor storage and vending practices. Therefore, we studied the fungal diversity in maize, cassava-based flour (pupuru), and rice vended in markets from Ondo state, Nigeria, and assessed their aflatoxin levels using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Molecular analysis of 65 representative fungal isolates recovered from the ground grains and pupuru samples revealed 26 species belonging to five genera: <i>Aspergillus</i> (80.9%), <i>Penicillium</i> (15.4%), and <i>Talaromyces</i> (1.9%) in the <i>Ascomycota</i>; <i>Syncephalastrum</i> (1.2%) and <i>Lichtheimia</i> (0.6%) in <i>Mucoromycota</i>. <i>Aspergillus flavus</i> was the predominant species in the ground grains and pupuru samples. Aflatoxins were found in 73.8% of the 42 representative food samples and 41.9% exceeded the 10 μg/kg threshold adopted in Nigeria for total aflatoxins.