Detection of <I>Fusarium verticillioides</I> in maize sold at some markets in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

Fusarium is a prominent fungal genus connected with maize in Africa. In this genus, there are two most common species (F. verticillioides and F. proliferatum) that have many toxigenic features and produce fumonisins. Fumonisins are a collection of economically significant mycotoxins that are widely found in maize-based foods and feeds across the globe. This preliminary study was conducted to detect the occurrence of Fusarium verticilliodes in infected maize collected from four main markets in the Ibadan metropolis. A total of ninety-five (95) maize samples were collected from three major commercial markets in Ibadan. Maize seeds were prepared following standard sterilization procedure after which, ten (10) seeds each were then plated on PDA media in triplicates and incubated at 25 oC for six days. Identification of isolates was performed using conventional cultural and morphological characteristics. Results show that the maize samples obtained from Apata market had the highest occurrence of Fusarium verticilliodes with 28.2% while the least occurrence of 22.3% was found in maize samples obtained from Bodija market. Other species of fungi, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, and Botryodiplodia Theobroma, were also detected with a negligible count. The study also revealed that there was a significant difference at p = 0.002 in the occurrence of Fusarium verticilliodes between the yellow and white maize seeds studied. These findings call for great concern as it detected that maize and maize-based feed consumed could be infected with Fusarium and fumonisin toxin.