Ibrahim1, A. Ali1 and Y. Hammad2*
(1) Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Latakia University, Latakia, Syria, (2) Department of Soil and Water Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Latakia University, Latakia, Syria.
*Email address of the corresponding author: [email protected]
This study was conducted at the Seed Health Laboratory of the Plant Quarantine Department in the Latakia Directorate of Agriculture to isolate and identify the fungus Apergillus flavus from peanut and pistachio nuts and test its aflatoxin production capacity. Sixty samples were collected from local markets in the Latakia Governorate. The nut samples were stored in sterile, vacuum-sealed polyethylene bags at a temperature of 5°C. The associated fungi in roasted and unroasted peanut and pistachio nuts were isolated and identified, and their occurrence rate was calculated. The fungus A. flavus was isolated and classified, and its appearance rate in these samples was calculated. The ability of the different isolates to produce aflatoxin was tested using filter paper saturated with a 20% ammonia solution. 197 isolates of nut-associated fungi were obtained, with Aspergillus spp. isolates being the most frequent in the studied samples at a rate of 62.4%. Sixty-six isolates of the fungus A. flavus were isolated and characterized, with a higher incidence in peanut (39.4%) compared to pistachios, and in unroasted samples compared to roasted samples of both peanuts and pistachios. The A. flavus fungal isolates varied in their ability to produce aflatoxins depending on the type of nuts and the method of treatment. The highest occurrence of aflatoxin-producing A. flavus isolates was in samples of unroasted peanuts (58.3%), and the lowest in roasted pistachios (14.2%), indicating that peanuts were more susceptible to infection with aflatoxin-producing A. flavus than pistachios.
A. flavus, Arachis hypogaea, Pistacia vera, aflatoxin,
https://doi.org/10.22268/AJPP-001519