Mycoflora associated with Groundnut Seeds Collected from the three Senatorial Districts of Kwara State, Nigeria
Loading...
Date
2023-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Faculty of Science, Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State, Nigeria
Abstract
Groundnut seeds are of numerous benefits to mankind which can be reduced through
contamination by fungal species, depending on the fungal species and their degree of
contamination of the seeds. Occurrence of fungal species on groundnut seeds is of great public
health concern. Therefore, it is essential to examine the different fungal species present. This
study employed both the phenotypic and molecular methods to isolate and characterize the fungal
species attributed to groundnut seeds. The Zymo Research Group's recommended protocols were
followed in order to extract the genomic DNA of each of the fungal species recovered. The PCR
amplification and sequencing of the ITS region from the total genomic DNA of fungal isolates
were conducted to molecularly identify them, using the NCBI database for comparison. The
commonest mycoflora isolated from the stored groundnut seeds were Aspergillus flavus, A. niger,
Alternaria alternate, Fusarium graminearum, Macrophomina phaseolina, Penicillium digitatum
and Rhizopus stolonifer. The total incidence of each of them ranged from 8 - 32%. Among the
three surveyed districts, Kwara Central exhibited the highest incidence of major mycoflora at
40%, while Kwara North had the lowest at 27%. Aspergillus niger demonstrated the highest
incidence among the fungal species found in groundnut seeds collected from all districts. Failure
to adequately dry these seeds before storage could elevate the risk of mycotoxin contamination.
Implementing management approaches targeting different fungi is essential to preserve nutritional
value of groundnut seeds during storage
Description
Keywords
Citation
Ajadi and Olahan (2024)