Incidence of Fungal Flora and Aflatoxin in Some Spices Sold in Central Market, Funtua, Nigeria

Abstract

Spices get contaminated with fungi and aflatoxin due to poor agricultural and storage practices. A total of 42 dried, raw, powdered and processed samples representing fourteen different types of spices were randomly collected in new polythene bags from Funtua Central Market, Nigeria and were screened for fungi and aflatoxin contaminations. The spices were Clove, African nutmeg, Ashanti pepper, Candlewood, Ethiopian pepper, Pineapple of the bush, Ginger, Garlic,Chillies,Kajiji,Thyme, Chilli powder (yaji), Curry and Locust bean (Dadawa). Fungi were isolated on Potato Dextrose Agar by Agar plate method for dried and raw samples and Standard Dilution Plate method for powdered samples. Seven fungal species were isolated and identified as Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus, A. fumigatus, Rhizoctonia sp, Mucor hiemalis, Rhizopus stolonifer and Nigrospora sphaerica. Percentage occurrence of fungal species ranged from 0.8% to 50.4%. Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) was used for aflatoxin determination. Aflatoxin was only detected in 4 out of 14 spices (28.6%) namely garlic (3.3µg/kg), Ethiopian pepper (5.7µg/kg), chillies (16.6µg/kg) and African nutmeg (17.2µg/kg). African nutmeg and chillies had aflatoxin levels above maximum acceptable limit of 10µg/kg set by EU and NAFDAC are therefore, not safe for human consumption.