Aflatoxigenic Fungi in Nuts and Dried Fruits In mosul and Duhok City

Abstract

Introduction:The present study aims to determine the contamination of eighteen samples from different nuts and dried fruits from the markets of Mosul and Duhok city.Materials and Methods: This study included samples of local and imported nuts and dried fruits. Results:The study showed different genera of contaminant fungi such as Alternaria, Penicillium, and Aspergillus species which are very common fungi associated with samples. The most fungal contamination was found in pistachio and black raisins, followed by balahsisi, taffy raisins, yellow raisins, dried apricot and peanut with shell. A total of nine species of Aspergillus were isolated on (potato dextrose agar, malt extract agar and dichloran rose bengal agar) media A. niger, A. flavus, A. fumigatus, A. tamarii, A. aculeatus, A. parasiticus, A. oryzae, A. japonicus, A. ochraceus were detected from all types of nuts and dried fruits samples. The most frequent species were A. niger followed by A. flavus and A. fumigates with percentage frequencies of 45.2%, 20.3% and 13.9% respectively. The ability of toxicogenic fungi to produce AflatoxinB1 by ELISA test of Sunlong corporation in nuts and dried fruits samples ranged from 94.8 to 136.4 µg/kg, with the highest levels of ability to produce AflatoxinB1 in nuts samples (peanut with shell, sunflower seeds and walnut) at levels 135.8, 129.0, and 128.9 µg/kg respectively, while in dried fruits samples the highest ability to produce AflatoxinB1in dried apricot, taffy raisins and yellow raisins was at levels136.4,123.1 and 118.0 µg/kg, respectively.Conclusion: we conducted the fungal contamination and quantitative content of aflatoxin B1 in nuts and dried fruits notably those sold openly in food shops.

Isolation and Identification of fungal species from dried fruits in Sulaimani City, Kurdistan Region-Iraq.

“…were the most prevalent fungi isolated from dried fruits, followed by Penicillium spp. A similar finding has been reported by Ramadan et al (2021); they stated that the genus Aspergillus is the dominant fungi isolated in the dried fruit collected from Duhok and Mosul, Iraq [3] . Moreover, a study of fungal contamination of dried fruit in Hila-Iraq provided that Aspergillus spp.…”

“…Identification of fungal isolates was performed depending on macroscopic characteristics of fungal colony morphology (topography, pigmentation, and texture) and microscopic features of fungal strains, using the taxonomic keys [21][22][23][24][25] . A wet mount technique was used to prepare a slide [3] ; a drop of lacto phenol cotton blue (LPCB) was deposited on the center of the slide and mixed well with a small amount of fungal growth with the help of a needle. A cover slip was positioned and inspected under a microscope [23,26] .…”

“…Fruits contain significant substances beneficial for human wellbeing, like vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants [1,2] . Fresh fruit preservation through drying provides an alternative method for maintaining the fruits for long periods and concentrating their nutritional value, reducing the cost of packaging, handling, and transportation [1,2,3] . Traditional dried fruit (i.e., without added sugar) found in the Mediterranean and other regional diets are important dietary groups [2] .…”

“…When the environmental condition is favorable, some of these organisms might start to grow before the fruits or nuts get to the processing facility; they might keep growing there until the products are dried, at which point workers and equipment might contaminate the final products [5] , Mold has the potential to contaminate dry fruits and spread quickly as well as even when a small area of fruit peel is contaminated [6] . Microorganisms can cause food spoilage to a valuable food staff [3] ; fungi are the most common organisms that spoil foods worldwide [3,7] . The USDA-Economic Research Service reported that "18.9 billion pounds of fruits and vegetables are lost annually due to spoilage by fungi" [8] .…”

Antifungal synergic activity of essential olive oil and alcoholic turmeric extracts against isolates from the dried grapes raisins

“…Ten isolates of the genus Aspergillus from three kinds of dried grapes i.e., raisins (Iraqi black raisins, Iranian yellow raisins and brown raisins) were identified at the species level according to morphological features of colonies on Czpek yeast agar (CYA) , Malt extract agar (MEA), and Glycerol Nitrate Agar ( G25%N) at three different temperatures of 5, 25 and 37 0 C as described byPitt and Hockig (2009), are mentioned in Table1and Fig.1. The data in Table1shows that A. niger was the most common species isolated from kinds of raisins, where include four isolates from Iraqi black raisins and two isolates from oil brown raisins and one isolate from Iranian yellow raisins, same results have been reported byChebil et al (2020 ) andRamadan et al (2022) who referred that the percentage of Aspergillus niger aggregate isolates detected in dried grapes samples from Kelibia, Sfax, and Rafraf areas of Tunisia markets ranged from 70% to 85%.…”