Author(s)

Ngum Queenta Nji¹, Adetunji Modupeade Christianah^2,3,4*, Ateba Collins Njie¹, Mwanza Mulunda⁴

¹Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North West University, Mafikeng Campus, Mmabatho, South Africa.
²Department of Biological Sciences, Trinity University, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.
³Food Security and Food Safety Niche Area, Faculty of Agriculture, Science and Technology, North-West University, Mmabatho, South Africa.
⁴Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Agriculture, Science and Technology, North West University, Mafikeng Campus, Mmabatho, South Africa.

Aspergillus species and aflatoxins production are more prevalent during times of high heat and drought. In South Africa, there is frequent occurrence of drought as a result of climate change. The aim of this study was to investigate the biodiversity and distribution of Aspergillus species with their corresponding toxins in maize from main maize producing regions of South Africa; [Western Regions (WR) and Eastern Regions (ER)]. One hundred and twenty-three (64 from WR and 59 from ER) maize samples from the two agro-climatic regions in South Africa were analyzed using cultural, molecular and analytical methods. Across agro-climatic regions, Aspergillus species contaminated about 62% of the maize samples, while Aspergillus flavus was the most prevalent (47.15%) followed by Aspergillus fumigatus (4.69%) while the least was Aspergillus parasiticus (0.81%). The Western Regions showed a higher distribution of varieties of Aspergillus species compared to the Eastern Regions. Aflatoxins contaminated only 27.64% of the maize samples with a mean total aflatoxin concentration of 2.40 μg/kg which is below the South Africa’s set standard for total aflatoxin in food (5 μg/kg). About 10.57% of the samples produce aflatoxins above the 5 μg/kg permissible limit for total aflatoxin in foods. The ratio of toxigenic to atoxigenic strains of Aspergillus flavus was generally low in all the regions of South Africa. This study could aid policy makers to make informed decisions in developing remediation strategies for Aspergillus mycotoxins.

Aspergillus Species, Aflatoxins, Maize, Aflatoxicity, Agro-Climatic, South Africa

Nji, N. , Christianah, A. , Njie, A. and Mulunda, M. (2022) Biodiversity and Distribution of Aspergillus and Their Toxins in Maize from Western and Eastern Regions of South Africa. Advances in Microbiology, 12, 121-149. doi: 10.4236/aim.2022.123011.