Authors: Afolabi Clement G, Bandyopadhyay Ranajit Leslie, John F. Ekpo, Ephraim J.A.
Journal of Food Protection®, Volume 69, Number 8, August 2006 , pp. 2019-2023(5)
Abstract:
Fumonisin mycotoxins are commonly found on maize and pose a health risk to humans and domesticated animals. Visible sorting of grain has been suggested as a simple technique that can be used to reduce exposure to fumonisins.
We collected maize samples in 2003 from different farms in the Kaduna state of Nigeria (Northern Guinea Savanna agroecological zone) that had been sorted by farmers as either good quality or poor quality. The amount of fumonisins and the presence of Fusarium verticillioides were determined for each sample. All 13 poor quality samples and the 5 good quality samples positive for fumonisins contained F. verticillioides. Twelve of 13 poor quality samples contained fumonisins (1.4 to 110 μg/g), as did the five good quality samples that were positive for F. verticillioides (0.2 to 3.7 μg of fumonisins per g). Thus, the visible sorting of grain as a technique to reduce the exposure of subsistence farmers to fumonisins could be successful if there were enough good quality grain available to permit the poor quality grain to be used for another purpose or discarded.
Document Type: Research article
Affiliations: 1: Department of Crop Protection and Environmental Biology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria 13314; Pathology Unit, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria 2: Pathology Unit, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria 3: Department of Plant Pathology, Throckmorton Plant Sciences Center, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506-5502, USA 4: Department of Crop Protection and Environmental Biology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria 13314