Fungal spoilage in maize resulted in grain deterioration and mycotoxin contamination. In Ethiopia, maize production is prone to losses due to mold contamination. The purpose of this study was to isolate fungi and determine the contributing factors to fungal spoilage in Maize. 72 maize samples were collected based on incremental sampling method. Fungal isolation was done on Potato Dextrose Agar amended with 0.01% chloramphenicol. Fungal colonies were purified by sub-cultured on PDA. Morphological and microscopic characterization of the isolates was done based on fungal identification manual. From 1080 maize grains, 613 fungal isolates were recorded with 54.1% mean value where the majorities were belongs to the genus Fusarium. Grains collected from warehouse were more infected (58.88%) followed by store, open market and household. Overall, the prevalence of fungal infection in the study sites was high. Awareness creation, cumulative integrated management, monitoring, and precautionary measures are recommended.
Aflatoxins are a group of related fungal metabolites primarily produced by Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus. Aflatoxin is a global food safety concern with rural subsistence farming communities in developing countries being the populations most at risk of exposure. Aflatoxin contamination is the main food safety problem for field crops produced in tropical and subtropical climate regions where high temperature and humidity promote growth and proliferation of Aspergillus spp. Foods and feeds, especially cereal grains, are susceptible to invasion by molds during pre-harvest, processing, transportation, or storage. Aflatoxins impose effects in both economic and health sectors where the crisis leads to death of human beings and animals. The most well established health effect of chronic aflatoxin exposure are hepatocellular carcinoma impaired child growth and immune suppression. To minimize the risk of aflatoxicosis, there are several physical, chemical and biological methods available, but the biological strategies are safest and well effective. Therefore, this review was aimed to show the health impact of aflatoxins and the promising strategies against aflatoxin contamination.
The main objective of this study was to isolate bioactive compounds from Ekebergia capensis for antimicrobial, anti-biofilm and anti-quorum sensing activity. The bark of E. capensis was extracted using hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol for 72 hours on maceration at room temperature. Antibacterial activity was evaluated against Staphylococcus aureus and antifungal activity against Candida albicans at 5 and 10 mg/mL concentrations. Anti-biofilm activity was tested using test tube and swarming motility test methods and anti-quorum sensing was evaluated using flask incubation test for violacein inhibition production methods. The results showed ethyl acetate extract of E. capensis and its two isolated compounds exhibited antimicrobial, anti-biofilm and anti-quorum sensing activity. Inhibition zones of antimicrobial activities of the extract against S. aureus and C. albicans ranged between 4-20 mm. 10 mg/mL extract showed inhibition of biofilm formation against S. aureus, anti-swarming activities against P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. Inhibition of violacein production against S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, and C. albicans were 72.6%, 67.7% and 69.3% respectively. The ethyl acetate extract, which showed antimicrobials, anti-biofilm, anti-quorum sensing activities, after silica gel column chromatography furnished two compounds namely; diisobutylphtalate and Sandropin B. The chemical structures of these compounds were done using spectroscopic methods including IR and NMR. The isolated compounds also showed strong antimicrobial, anti-biofilm, and anti-quorum sensing activity. This could be useful to manage infectious diseases caused by biofilm forming microorganisms.
Proteases are enzymes used in industries such the production and processing of detergents, food, leather, and silk. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify protease‐producing bacteria from a sludge disposal site and from sediments. Soil samples were collected separately from the selected area. Samples weighing 1 g were serially diluted and spread onto skim milk agar. A total of 16 bacteria species were isolated from the study samples. Four bacterial isolates showed high proteolytic activity and were selected for enzymatic study based on their zone of proteolysis. The isolates were identified based on biochemical tests. The results indicated that the isolated bacteria were E. coli (99.69%), Pseudomonas putrefaciens (Shewanella putrefaciens) (91.61%), Bacillus carboniphilus (92.78%), and Lysinibacillus sphaericus (98.4%). The crude protease enzymes produced by these bacterial isolates showed promising results for application in dehairing and destaining as detergent additives. Bacillus carboniphilus showed the best level of activity and was selected as the most potent protease‐producing bacteria for both dehairing and destaining ability. Soils from sludge disposal sites and sediments from around tannery wastes could be good sources from which to isolate alkaline protease‐producing bacteria.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.