Fungi and some mycotoxins found in mouldy Sorghum in Niger State

Abstract

Mouldy Sorghum samples were collected at three different seasons (dry harmattan season, November-January; hot, dry season, February-April; and rainy season, May-October) from twenty-five local government areas of Niger State and screened for their fungal, aflatoxin B1-AFB1 ochratoxin A-OTA and zearalenone-ZEN contamination. Eight hundred and eighty four (884) fungi were isolated from one hundred and sixty eight (168) mouldy Sorghum samples collected. The three major fungal contaminants of Sorghum in the state were A.niger, Rhizopus oryzae and A.flavus. The commonest fungi found in Sorghum during the dry, harmattan and rainy season was Rhizopus oryzae while A.niger was the most frequent fungal contaminant of Sorghum in the hot, dry season. AFB1 was found in 91 out of the 168 samples analyzed while ZEN was detected in 60 out of the 168 samples examined. Twenty three of the 112 were analyzed for ochratoxin A, contained the toxin.