Mycotoxins of fungal strains from stored herbal plants and mycotoxin contents of Nigerian crude herbal drugs.
Efuntoye M. O.
Author Affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Ogun State University, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria.
Mycopathologia 147 : 43-48
Abstract : The ability of fungi isolated from stored herbal drug plants obtained from markets in Nigeria, to produce mycotoxins in semisynthetic media, was studied. Herbal plants screened included Azadirachta indica, Plumbago zeylanica, Jatropha curcas, Mangifera indica, Vernonia amygdalina, Xylopia aethiopica and Morinda lucida. The results showed that aflatoxins and ochratoxin A, were produced by Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus and A. ochraceus isolates. The time-production courses of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and ochratoxin A in crude herbal drug preparations showed that more of these toxins were produced with increase in time of storage of the drugs. The results indicated that the potential exists for the toxinogenic strains to produce mycotoxins in large quantities in herbal drug substrates than in semisynthetic media.