Aflatoxin Production Potential in Aspergillus Section Flavi Isolates Obtained from Almond Fruits in Different Regions of Iran
Hadi Ebrahimi
1
(
Department of Agriculture, Da.C., Islamic Azad University, Damghan, Iran
)
Hossein Afshari
2
(
Department of Agriculture, Da.C., Islamic Azad University, Damghan, Iran
)
Mehdi Mohammadi-Moghadam
3
(
Crop and Horticultural Sciences Research Department, Semnan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center (Shahrood), AREEO, Shahrood, Iran
)
Mostafa Ghasemi
4
(
Crop and Horticultural Sciences Research Department, Qazvin Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Qazvin, Iran
)
Keywords: Almond, Aspergillus section Flavi., Aflatoxin, Iran,
Abstract :
Almond is one of the most important nut fruits, which is widely consumed in Iran and the world due to its high nutritional value and importance in health. Investigations have shown that the contamination of nut fruits to Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxin can threaten the health of the community. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the potential for aflatoxin production in Aspergillus section Flavi isolates in the main almond-growing areas of Iran. In this research, 95 almond fruit samples were collected from important almond-growing areas of Iran. The samples were cultured by serial dilution method in differential AFPA culture medium and 100 isolates of Aspergillus section Flavi were identified. In the next step, the toxin-producing capacity of the isolates were investigated. Three culture media including coconut agar medium (CAM), yeast extract sucrose (YES) medium modified with methyl-β-cyclodextrin, and YES medium exposed to ammonia vapor were applied to identify and screen the toxigenic and atoxigenic isolates. After the initial screening and the selection of toxigenic isolates, in order to measure the toxigenic potential of isolates, the fungus isolates were cultured on the medium of sterile crushed rice medium and toxigenic potential was done using thin layer chromatography (TLC) method. The results showed that out of 100 fungal isolates, 10 isolates were unable to produce any type of aflatoxin, while 90 isolates were able to produce one or more types of aflatoxin. Seven fungal isolates were capable of producing four types of aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1, G2), 10 isolates were able to produce three types of aflatoxins (B1, B2 and G1) and 33 isolates were able to produce two types of aflatoxins (B1 and B2). 40 fungal isolates were only able to produce aflatoxin B1. Among the toxin-producing isolates, the production range of aflatoxin B1 was between 24 and 17129, aflatoxin B2 between 43 and 8391, aflatoxin G1 between 132 and 2957 and aflatoxin G2 between 61 and 212 ng g-1.
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