Nutritional evaluation of complementary food formulations from maize, soybean and peanut fortified with Moringa oleifera leaf powder was carried out. Maize, soybean and peanut were blended in a ratio of 60:30:10 to produce a complementary food, which was then fortified. While the unfortified food product (sample A) served as control, the other three formulations were fortified with 5%, 10% and 15% Moringa leaf powder to give three samples (B, C and D respectively) of fortified food. Nutritional composition determination and feeding trials were then carried out, using two weeks old male albino rats to determine the performance of the food formulations. While the crude protein, crude fibre, and ash contents of the diets increased significantly (p < 0.05) with fortification, with values ranging from 16.04% to 17.59%, 2.25% to 4.42% and 1.40% to 2.50% respectively, crude fat and carbohydrate decreased significantly

Five yam tuber varieties were investigated for microorganisms that cause yam tuber rot from five local government areas of Benue State, Nigeria, between the months of March 2014 to March 2015. Five fungi species: Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus stolonifera, Botryodiplodia theobromae, Fusarium oxysporum, Penicillium marnessei and four bacteria species: Serratia marcescens, Erwinia carotovora, Klebsiella oxytoca and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were consistently isolated. Pathogenicity test carried out confirmed these organisms as the pathological agent of the rot. Antimicrobial activity of five plant aqueous extracts: Terminalia catapa (common name fruit), Passiflora edulis (passion fruit), Daniella oliveri (Chiha-Tiv), Ceiba pentandra (Vambe-Tiv), Jatropha tanjorensis (Catholic plant) was carried out on the isolated microorganims and they showed varing degrees of inhibition, the aqueous extract from Passiflora edulis, Ceiba pentandra and Jatropha tanjorensis were able to inhibit all the fungi completely.

Six microorganisms: four fungi-Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus stolonifera, Penicillium marneffei, two bacteria-Erwinia carotovora and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were isolated and identified from three rotten Dioscorea alata (water yam) varieties from two sites each in two local government areas of Benue State, Nigeria, in West Africa, between the months of May 2014 and May 2015. Pathogenicity test carried out using the microorganisms confirmed them to be the pathological agents of the rot. Antimicrobial activity test with aqueous extracts of nine plants: Terminalia catapa, Passiflora edulis, Daniella oliveri, Ceiba pentandra, Jatropha tanjorensis, Azadirachta indica, Carica papaya, Moringa oleifera, and Mangifera indica of fresh and dry material showed that three pathogens, Rhizopus stolonifera (fungi), Erwinia carotovora and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (bacteria) isolated were completely inhibited each by a plant. The result obtained shows that Passiflora edulis had the best antimicrobial activity for both fungi and bacteria; indeed it inhibited completely Rhizopus stolonifera which was stubborn with most of the other plants. Azadirachta indica, Carica papaya, Moringa oleifera, and Mangifera indica were also able to inhibit most of the fungi but not completely. Terminalia catapa and Jatropha tanjorensis were most effective against the bacteria. Erwinia carotovora was completely inhibited by Terminalia catapa and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was completely inhibited by Jatropha tanjorensis. Daniella oliveri and Ceiba pentandra had the least inhibition against the isolates. Generally, the fresh plant extract shows more activity as compared to the dry plant extract.

Aflatoxin associated with a number of cereals and legumes is estimated to increase the chances of developing primary liver cancer in 152.7 and 61.1 cancer/year/100,000 population of infants and children, respectively in Nigeria. This study was carried out to assess the implications of some agronomic practices on the infestation of aflatoxigenic fungi and total aflatoxin in maize produce in Benue State. Two maize sample types (Pre-harvest and Post-harvest) collected from 3 locations in Benue State were cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar for fungi isolation and identification. Moisture content and total aflatoxin concentration were determined (ELISA method) in both pre-harvest oven dried and farmer's post-harvest sun dried samples. Information on agronomic practices was obtained with the aid of questionnaire. T-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data with confident levels set at 95%. Overall, 5 mould genera were identified: Aspergillus (44.0%), Fusarium (24.44%), Botryodiplodia (17.78%), Rhizopus (15.56%) and Penicillium (4.44%). Moisture content of oven dried samples was significantly less than that of farmers sun dried samples (t = 10.45, P < 0.001). Similarly, a significant difference in total aflatoxin concentration was recorded between farmers sun dried and oven dried samples (t = 2.37, P = 0.03). Half of the farmer's sun dried samples had aflatoxin concentration above the recommended EU (4 ug/Kg) limit, but none of the pre-harvest oven dried samples exceeded EU limits. Maize samples from fertilized farms were more likely than non-fertilized farms to have higher aflatoxin concentration (P = 0.002). Similarly, Maize seeds purchase from the open market were more likely than seeds from previous harvest to be contaminated with aflatoxin (P = 0.003). The study advocates rapid drying of timely harvested maize so as to reduce or How to cite this paper: Mbaawuaga, E.M., Nwabude, J.O. and Shiriki, D. (2020) Effects of Farmers' Practices on Maize (Zea mays) Contamination by Potential Aflatoxigenic Fungi and Aflatoxin in Benue State, Nigeria.

Nine microorganisms were isolated from four varieties of Dioscorea rotundata (gbongu, ogoja, Amula, Hembamkwase); four bacteria, Erwinia carotovora, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens, Klebsiella oxytoca and five fungi, Rhizopus stolonifera, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium oxysporum, Penicillium marneffei, from five local government areas of Benue State (Vandeikya, Ukum, Katsina Ala, Guma and Logo). Pathogenicity test on the isolates confirmed them to be the cause of rot. The nine plants extract (Ceiba pentandra, Jatropha tanjorensis, Azadirachta indica, Moringa oleifera, Carica papaya, Mangifera indica, Daniella oliveri, Terminalia catapa and Passiflora edulis) synergistically added inhibited all the four bacteria isolates completely. The five fungi were inhibited by 60% (c) -80% (b); Rhizopus stolonifera, Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium oxysporum; and Aspergillus niger, Penicillium marneffei, respectively.