African Journal of
Microbiology Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Microbiol. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1996-0808
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJMR
  • Start Year: 2007
  • Published Articles: 5229

Full Length Research Paper

Investigations on aflatoxigenic fungi and aflatoxins contamination in some nuts sampled in Algeria

Amar Riba1,2*, Amina Matmoura1, Salim Mokrane1, Florence Mathieu3 and Nasserdine Sabaou1
1Laboratoire de Biologie des Systèmes Microbiens (LBSM), Ecole Normale Supérieure de Kouba, Alger, Algeria. 2Département de Biologie, Faculté des Sciences, Université M’hamed Bougara, Boumerdès. 3Université de Toulouse, INPT-ENSAT, Laboratoire de Génie Chimique, UMR 5503 (CNRS/INPT/UPS), 1 Avenue de l’Agrobiopôle BP 32607 Auzeville Tolosane 31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France.
Email: [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 26 August 2013
  •  Published: 18 October 2013

Abstract

In this study, 40 nuts samples (almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, peanuts and walnuts) available in the Algerian market were investigated for aflatoxigenic fungi and aflatoxins contamination. An evaluation of mould biodiversity revealed Aspergillus link to be the most frequent genus, while species belonging to the section Nigri (30.6%) and to the sectionFlavi (27.9%) were predominantly isolated. 78.6 and 52.4% of the 420 isolates ofAspergillus section Flavi examined produced cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) and aflatoxins (AFs), respectively. The majority of the aflatoxigenic strains (90.5%) were identified asAspergillus flavus. In 90% of the nuts samples, aflatoxins were detected by HPLC with widely fluctuating contamination levels. Their concentrations ranged from 0.2 to 25.82 μg/kg. The highest levels were found in peanuts, pistachios and walnuts.

 

Key words: Aflatoxins, Algeria, Aspergillus section Flavi, nuts.

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This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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