Natural occurrence of fungi in stored wheat grains in Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, Egypt

2 Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Zagazig University, Egypt.

Abstract

Moulds can destroy wheat and its products both before and after harvest, when they are being produced and stored. Thirty samples of stored wheat grains were taken from various markets in Mansoura city, Dakahilia Governorate, Egypt and analyzed for the presence of naturally occurring moulds. The examined samples had a high prevalence of several fungal populations, with counts ranging from 16 to 34 colonies/g. Nine genera and twenty-two species have been distinguished using the conventional agar plate method. Alternaria, Aspergillus, Botryotrichum, Cladsporium, Fusarium, Penicillium, Rhizopus, Trichoderma, and Ulocladium are the genera that were identified during this study. The most common fungal genus observed was Aspergillus (100%) and was followed by Penicillium (83.3%). Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus stolonifer, Alternaria alternate, and Penicillium chrysogenum were the most prevalent fungal species. These observations showed that more firm actions need to be applied by farmers and food industries during pre-and post-harvest practices to avert or reduce mold contamination and hence mycotoxins production in wheat grains.

Keywords

Mansoura Journal of Biology
Volume 69, Issue 2
June 2024
Pages 18-26

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