Morphological Characterization and Determination of Aflatoxin-Production Potentials of Aspergillus flavus Isolated from Maize and Soil in Kenya

Matome Gabriel Thathana, Hunja Murage, Akebe Luther King Abia and Michael Pillay
Additional contact information
Matome Gabriel Thathana: Department of Biotechnology, Vaal University of Technology, Private Bag X021, Vanderbijlpark 1911, South Africa
Hunja Murage: Department of Horticulture, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, P.O. Box 62000-00200, Juja 0561, Kenya
Akebe Luther King Abia: AMBIO Environmental Management, Department of Biotechnology, Vaal University of Technology, Private Bag X021, Vanderbijlpark 1911, South Africa
Michael Pillay: Department of Biotechnology, Vaal University of Technology, Private Bag X021, Vanderbijlpark 1911, South Africa

Agriculture, 2017, vol. 7, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: This study aimed at morphologically identifying Aspergillus flavus in soil and maize and at determining their aflatoxin-producing potentials. Five hundred and fourteen isolates obtained from maize and soil in Kenya were cultivated on Czapeck Dox Agar, Malt Extract Agar, Sabouraud Dextrose Agar, Potato Dextrose Agar, and Rose-Bengal Chloramphenicol Agar. Isolates were identified using macro-morphological characteristics. Micromorphological characteristics were determined using slide cultures. Aflatoxin production was determined by direct visual determination of the UV fluorescence of colonies on Coconut Agar Medium, Yeast Extract Sucrose agar, and Yeast Extract Cyclodextrin Sodium Deoxycholate agar and by Thin Layer Chromatography. Forty-three presumptive A. flavus isolates were identified; aflatoxin was detected in 23% of the isolates by UV fluorescence screening and in 30% by Thin-Layer Chromatography (TLC). The aflatoxins produced were: aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ), aflatoxin B 2 (AFB 2 ), and aflatoxin G 1 (AFG 1 ); some isolates produced only AFB 1 , whereas others produced either AFB 1 and AFB 2 or AFB 1 and AFG 1 . The highest incidence of A. flavus (63%) and aflatoxin production (28%) was recorded in samples from Makueni District. Isolates from Uasin Gishu (21%) and Nyeri (5%) were non-aflatoxigenic. Bungoma District recorded 11% positive isolates of which 2% were aflatoxin producers. The occurrence of aflatoxin-producing A. flavus emphasises the need for measures to eliminate their presence in food crops.

Keywords: Aflatoxins; Aspergillus flavus; morphological characterization; Thin Layer Chromatography; UV Fluorescence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/7/10/80/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/7/10/80/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:7:y:2017:i:10:p:80-:d:112729

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().