African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 5 (19), pp. 1729-1732, 2 October 2006   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2006 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Detection of fungi and aflatoxin in shelved bush mango seeds (Irvingia spp.) stored for sale in Uyo, Nigeria

B.C. Adebayo-Tayo¹, A.A. Onilude², A.A Ogunjobi², J.S. Gbolagade² and M.O. Oladapo⁴

¹Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Uyo, P.M.B. 1017, Uyo Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

²Department of Botany and Microbiology Univerity of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

³Institute of Agricultural Research and Training, Ibadan, Nigeria.

*Corresponding authors E-mail: aaogunjobi@hotmail.com

Accepted 2 June, 2006

A survey of the fungi and aflatoxin contamination of bush mango seeds (Irvingia spp.) was conducted in Akwa lbom State, Nigeria. Bush mango seeds sold at four major markets, located at Abak, Uyo,  Ikot Ekpene and Itam  in Akwa Ibom State were heavily contaminated with moulds. Eight different fungi were found associated with the bush mango seeds; Aspergillus carbonarius, Aspergillus tereus, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus candidus, Penicillium expansum, Aspergillus niger, Candida tropicalis and Aspergillus glaucus. A. niger have the highest rate of occurrence with high colony counts (1.0 x 10³ – 4.3 x 10³ colonies/g). The aflatoxins B₁ and G₁ concentrations ranged from 0.2 – 4.0 and 0.3 – 4.2 µg/kg, respectively. The result showed that bush mango seeds sold in Akwa lbom markets require quality control and proper preservation.

Key words: Bush mango, aflatoxin, mycoflora, Aspergillus, Nigeria.