Studies of aspergillus flavus and aflatoxin contamination of groundnut (Arachis Hypogaea L.) from six markets in the Central Region, Ghana

Abstract

The study shows Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxin contamination of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L) from groundnut samples collected from the six markets in the Central Region of Ghana namely: Swedru, Mankessim, Cape Coast, Fosu, Jukwa and Kasoa. All groundnut sellers interviewed were females and have no knowledge about aflatoxins. Thirty five percent 35% of the groundnut sellers had no formal education whilst 26.7% had basic primary education and 23.3% had Junior high school education. The fungal organisms encountered on the groundnut samples from the six market centres were: Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Botryodiplodia theobromae, Macrophomina phaseolina, Penicillum spp. and Rhizopus spp. Laboratory results indicate that on unamended PDA Fosu A. flavus isolate showed better growth (8.5 cm) than the rest (7.0 cm- 8.0cm). However, there was a strong radial growth inhibition of A. flavus, in the garlic amended PDA than the rest of the botanical extracts. Whereas the HPLC analyses of the groundnut samples were all below the tolerable limit (20 ppb) of Ghana Bureau of Standards for consumption, Cape Coast recorded the highest of (9.1 ppb) and Jukwa recorded the lowest (1.8 ppb). The four types of aflatoxin detected in the groundnut samples from the six market centres were: B1, B2, G1 and G2.