Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mycotoxigenic fungi and mycotoxins associated with stored maize from different regions of Lesotho

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Mycotoxin Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Samples of stored maize from villages located in five different agroecological zones (southern lowlands, northern lowlands, Senqu river valley, foothills and mountains) of Lesotho were collected in 2009/10 and 2010/11 and assessed for contamination with toxigenic fungi. The water activity of all samples collected during the two seasons was <0.70. The total fungal populations of the maize from different regions in the two seasons was not significantly different (p > 0.05). Fusarium verticillioides, F. proliferatum and F. subglutinans predominated in different regions in both seasons based on molecular analyses. In the 2009/10 season, the isolates of these species all produced FB1, while in the 2010/11 season, very few produced FB1. A. flavus isolates (2009/10) were recovered from mountains and Senqu river valley samples while the 2010/11 isolates were predominantly from the foothills and northern lowlands. The mountain isolates of Aspergillus section Flavi produced the highest levels of AFB1 (20 mg kg−1). Aspergillus parasiticus was only isolated from the foothills, Senqu river valley and southern lowlands samples, and the AFB1 levels produced ranged from ‘none detected’ to 3.5 mg kg−1. The Aspergillus ochraceous isolates were least frequently encountered in both seasons. In the 2009/10 season, the isolates from the northern lowlands produced ochratoxin A (OTA) in culture. No isolates of A. niger from different regions in both seasons produced any OTA. Multi-mycotoxin analyses of the maize samples were done for a range of mycotoxins. At least one sample from each region in both seasons was FB1-positive. FB1 levels for 2010/11 samples (7–936 μg kg−1) were higher than in the 2009/10 season (2–3 μg kg−1). In both seasons, the mountains registered the highest levels of FB1. Deoxynivalenol (DON) was recovered from all the samples analysed, with the highest mean contamination of 1,469 μg kg−1 in samples from the northern lowlands. Moniliformin (MON) was detected from all agroecological zones in the two seasons (5–320 μg kg−1 in 2009/10; 15–1,205 μg kg−1 in 2010/11). Emerging toxins such as fusaproliferin (FUS) and beauvericin (BEA) were also detected. OTA was not detected in any of the samples analysed. Only one 2009/10 sample in the Senqu river valley was positive for AFB1. This is the first report on toxigenic fungi and multi-mycotoxin contamination of maize samples from subsistence farmers’ stores in different agroecological zones of Lesotho.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alberts JF, Gelderblom WCA, Thiel PG, Marasas WFO, Van Schalkwyk DJ, Behrend Y (1990) Effects of temperature and incubation period on the production of fumonisin B1 by Fusarium moniliforme. Appl Environ Microbiol 56:1729–1733

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bellemain E, Carlsen T, Brochmann C, Coissac C, Taberlet P, Kauserud H (2010) ITS as an environmental DNA barcode for fungi: an in silico approach reveals potential PCR biases. BMC Microbiol 10:189

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boutigny A, Beukes I, Small I, Zühlke S, Spiteller M, Van Rensburg BJ, Flett B, Viljoen A (2012) Quantitative detection of Fusarium pathogens and their mycotoxins in South African maize. Plant Pathol 61:522–531

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chan Y, Walmsley RP (2007) Learning and understanding the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis-of-variance-by-ranks test for differences among three or more independent groups. Phys Ther 77:1755–1761

    Google Scholar 

  • Chilaka CA, De Kock S, Phoku JZ, Mwanza M, Egbuta MA, Dutton MF (2012) Fungal and mycotoxin contamination of South African commercial maize. J Food Agric Environ 10:296–303

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cotty PJ, Jaime-Garcia R (2007) Influence of climate on aflatoxin producing fungi andaflatoxin contamination. Int J Food Microbiol 119:109-115

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis ND, Iyer SK, Diener UL (1987) Improved method of screening for aflatoxin with a coconut agar medium. Appl Environ Microbiol 53:1593–1595

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Desjardins AE, Plattner RD (2000) Fumonisin B1-nonproducing strains of Fusarium verticillioides cause maize (Zea mays) ear infection and ear rot. J Agric Food Chem 48:5773–5780

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dowd PF (1998) The involvement of arthropods in the establishment of mycotoxigenic fungi under field conditions. In: Sinha KK, Bhatnagar D (eds) Mycotoxins in Agriculture and Food Safety. Dekker, New York, pp 307–350

  • Fandohan P, Hell K, Marasas WFO, Wingfield MJ (2005) Infection of maize by Fusarium species and contamination with fumonisin in Africa. Afr J Biotechnol 2:646–665

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO EU (2010) Food security information for decision making. In: www.foodsec.org. Accessed 29/08/2011

  • Gnonlonfin GJB, Hell K, Fandohan P, Siame AB (2008) Mycoflora and natural occurrence of aflatoxins and fumonisin B1 in cassava and yam chips from Benin, West Africa. Int J Food Microbiol 122:140–147

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hell K, Mutegi C (2011) Aflatoxin control and prevention strategies in key crops of sub-saharan africa. Afr J Micro Res 5:459–466

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimanya ME, De Meulenaer B, Tiisekwa B, Ndomondo-Sigonda M, Devlieghere F, Van Camp J, Kolsteren P (2008) Co-occurrence of fumonisins with aflatoxins in home-stored maize for human consumption in rural villages of Tanzania. Food Addit Contam Part A 25:1353–1364

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Klich MA (2007) Aspergillus flavus: The major producer of aflatoxin. Mol Plant Pathol 8:713–722

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lee HB, Magan N (2000) Impact of environment and interspecific interactions between spoilage fungi and Aspergillus ochraceus on growth and ochratoxin production in maize grain. Int J Food Microbiol 61:11–16

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leslie JF, Plattner RD, Desjardins AE, Klittich CJR (1992) Fumonisin B1 production by strains from different mating populations of Gibberella fujikuroi (Fusarium Section Liseola). Phytopathology 82:341–345

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Magan N, Aldred D (2007) Post-harvest control strategies: minimizing mycotoxins in the food chain. Int J Food Microbiol 119:131–139

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Magan N, Medina A, Aldred D (2011) Possible impacts of climate change on mycotoxins in food crops pre- and post-harvest. Plant Pathol 60:150–163

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Magnoli CE, Astoreca AL, Chiacchiera SM, Dalcero AM (2007) Occurrence of ochratoxin A and ochratoxigenic mycoflora in corn and corn based foods and feeds in some South American countries. Mycopathologia 163:249–260

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marasas WFO, Kriek NPJ, Wiggins VM, Steyn PS, Towers DK, Hastie TJ (1979) Incidence, geographical distribution, and toxicity of Fusarium species in South African corn. Phytopathology 69:181–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Marin S, Magan N, Ramos AJ, Sanchis V (2004) Fumonisin-producing strains of Fusarium: a review of their ecophysiology. J Food Prot 67:1792–1805

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mohale S, Allotey J (2011) Mould contamination of ready-to-eat cereal-based foods retailed in Lesotho with special reference to toxigenic Aspergillus flavus. Afr J Food Agr Nutr Dev 10:2678–2694

    Google Scholar 

  • Munkvold GP, McGee DC, Carlton WM (1997) Importance of different pathways for maize kernel infection by Fusarium moniliforme. Phytopathology 87:209–217

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ncube E, Flett BC, Waalwijk C, Viljoen A (2011) Fusarium spp. and levels of fumonisins in maize produced by subsistence farmers in South Africa. S Afr J Sci 107:1–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson PE, Plattner RD, Shackelford DD, Desjardins AE (1991) Production of fumonisins by Fusarium moniliforme strains from various substrates and geographic areas. Appl Environ Microbiol 57:2410–2412

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Onyike NBN, Nelson PE (1993) The distribution of Fusarium species in soils planted to millet and sorghum in Lesotho, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Mycopathologia 121:105–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Picot A, Hourcade-Marcolla D, Barreau C, Pinson-Gadais L, Caron D, Richard-Forget F, Lannou C (2012) Interactions between Fusarium verticillioides and Fusarium graminearum in maize ears and consequences for fungal development and mycotoxin accumulation. Plant Pathol 61:140–151

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pitt JI, Hocking AD (eds) (2009) Fungi and Food Spoilage, 3rd edn. Springer, New York

  • Razzaghi-Abyaneh M, Shams-Ghahfarokhi M, Allameh A, Kazeroon-Shiri A, Ranjbar-Bahadori S, Mirzahoseini H, Rezaee M (2006) A survey on distribution of Aspergillus section Flavi in corn field soils in Iran: population patterns based on aflatoxins, cyclopiazonic acid and sclerotia production. Mycopathologia 161:183–192

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ritieni A, Moretti A, Logrieco A, Bottalicao A, Ramdazzo G, Monti M, Ferrocane R, Fogliano V (1997) Occuurence of fusaproliferin, fumonisin B1, and beauvericin in maize from Italy. J Agric Food Chem 54:4011–4016

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodríguez A, Rodríguez N, Luque MI, Justesen AF, Córdoba JJ (2012) A comparative study of DNA extraction methods to be used in real-time PCR based quantification of ochratoxin A-producing molds in food products. Food Control 25:666–672

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shephard GS, Marasas WFO, Burger H, Somdyala NIM, Rheeder JP, van der Westhuizen L, Gatyeni P, Van Schalkwyk DJ (2007) Exposure assessment for fumonisins in the former Transkei region of South Africa. Food Addit Contam 24:621–629

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sultan Y, Magan N (2010) Mycotoxigenic fungi in peanuts from different geographic regions of Egypt. Mycotoxin Res 26:133–140

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sulyok M, Berthiller F, Krska R, Schuhmacher R (2006) Development and validation of a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometric method for the determination of 39 mycotoxins in wheat and maize. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 20:2649–2659

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thiel PG, Meyer CJ, Marasas WF0 (1982) Natural occurrence of moniliformin together with deoxynivalenol and zearalenone in Transkeian corn. J Agric Food Chem 30:308–312

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Velluti A, Marín S, Bettucci L, Ramos AJ, Sanchis V (2000) The effect of fungal competition on colonization of maize grain by Fusarium moniliforme, F. proliferatum and F. graminearum and on fumonisin B1 and zearalenone formation. Int J Food Microbiol 59:59–66

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Waalwijk C, Koch SH, Ncube E, Allwood J, Flett BC, de Vries I, Kema GHJ (2008) Quantitative detection of Fusarium spp. and its correlation with fumonisin content in maize from South African subsistence farmers. World Mycotox J 1:39–47

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to the UK Department for International Development (DFID) through its Commonwealth PhD scholarship scheme.

Conflict of interest

The Commonwealth funds PhD programmes and has no involvement in the research project or the publication of the results and thus there is no conflict of interest. The authors are in full control of all the primary data reported in this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Mycology Group, Cranfield Health, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedford, MK43 0AL, UK

    Sejakhosi Mohale, Angel Medina, Alicia Rodríguez & Naresh Magan

  2. Christian Doppler Laboratory for Mycotoxin Research, Department IFA-Tulln, University of Natural Resources and Applied Sciences, Konrad Lorenzstr. 20, 3430, Vienna, Tulln, Austria

    Michael Sulyok

Authors
  1. Sejakhosi Mohale
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Angel Medina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alicia Rodríguez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Michael Sulyok
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Naresh Magan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Naresh Magan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mohale, S., Medina, A., Rodríguez, A. et al. Mycotoxigenic fungi and mycotoxins associated with stored maize from different regions of Lesotho. Mycotoxin Res 29, 209–219 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12550-013-0176-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12550-013-0176-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation