B P International

Studies were undertaken on mycotoxin contamination and induced biochemical changes in some important medicinal plants. For the purpose of study four important medicinal plants namely Azadirachta indica, Emblica officinalis, Plantago ovata and Vitex negundo were selected. Samples were collected from different localities of Uttarakhand (India). Mycotoxin producing fungi like A. flavus, A. ochraceus, F. verticillioides and Penicillium citrinum were recorded. In comparison to other mycotoxigenic fungi, percentage toxigenicity was higher in Aspergillus flavus. In case of E. officinalis, 32.69% isolates of A.flavus were toxigenic and produced aflatoxins up to 21 µg/ml in the liquid media followed by A. indica where 22.2% isolates produced aflatoxin in the range of 0.4-13.8 µg/ml. In case of V. negundo and P. ovata 14.28% and 8% isolates of A. flavus elaborated aflatoxin B1,B2 and aflatoxin B1 respectively at low concentration. Mycotoxin contamination in stored samples of E. officinalis and...

This work is aimed at identifying these organisms in order to reduce the contamination of food condiments. A survey of seed-borne fungi associated with the seeds of Brachystegia eurycoma and Detarium macrocarpum (Whole and Ground) obtained from two different local markets in Rivers State namely; Etche and Bori was conducted. Fungi were isolated using Standard Blotter Method and pure cultures of Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus spp, Botrydiplodia theobromae, Fusarium solani, Rhizopus stolonifer, Penicillium spp, Penicillium notatum and Fusarium moniliforme, were obtained on Potatoes Dextrose Agar (PDA). Comparing the fungal contamination of the food condiments Detarium macrocarpum and Brachystegia eurycoma from 2 different markets in Rivers State, shows that the fungi obtained from Etche Market has the highest percentage incidence of 181.83% as compared to Bori Market (79.16%). It shows that these legumes are good substrate, for the growth of pathogenic fungi that p...