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Eighty six species belonging to thirty one genera were collected from the qat phyllosphere (30 genera and 78 species) and phylloplane (20 genera and 64 species) of 24 varieties tested. In the phyllosphere the most frequent genera were Cladosporium, Aspergillus and Alternaria followed by Penicillium, Drechslera, Fusarium, Curvularia, Phoma and Chaetomium. From the preceding genera the most prevalent species were C. herbarum, C. macrocarpum, A. niger, A. flavus, A. alternata, A. phragmospora, P. citrinum, P. notatum, D. spicifera, D. halodes, D. hawaiiensis, F. oxysporum, F. moniliforme, C. lunata, P. humicola, P. herbarum and C. globosum. In the phylloplane the order of genera frequency was more or less the same, while the most common species were C. herbarum, C. sphaerospermum, A. niger, A. flavus, A. alternata and A. tenuissima.

To evaluate the potential for mycotoxin production by fungi contaminating blue-veined cheese, as well as by the ripening fungus, Penicillium roqueforti, the fungal flora of six of local and imported brands was determined. A total of 19 fungi were isolated from the six brands tested. Fourteen of the isolates were toxic to chicken embryos. The toxigenic fungi produced the following mycotoxins: Aspergillus fumigatus, kojic acid; A. versicolor, sterigmatocystin; Penicillium roqueforti, penicillic acid and unidentified toxic metabolites.