Incidence of Fungi and Aflatoxins in Sudanese Faba Bean Seeds

Abstract

Fifty six species and eight varieties belonging to 17 genera of fungi were isolated from the seeds of faba bean (Vicia faba L.). Among these isolates, 39 species and 5 varieties are considered new to the reported faba bean seeds mycoflora, whereas one genus and two species are new to the known mycoflora of the Sudan. The genus Aspergillus (13 species and 5 varieties) is leading among the prevalent genera followed by Rhizopus (3 species), Fusarium (5 species), Alternaria (6 species), Curvularia (6 species and one variety), Drechslera (2 species), Penicillium (5 species) and Emericella (4 species and 2 varieties), whereas the remaining 9 genera were encountered in a very low level of contamination. Of the serious pathogens of faba bean plants, Drechslera spicifera (2.16%), Fusarium oxysporum (3.35%) and Phoma herbarum (1.75%) were recovered from the seeds of this crop. Thin layer chromatographic analysis of chloroform extracts of 13 seed samples showed that two samples were naturally contaminated with aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 (10.5-23 μg/kg).