Isolation and identification of toxigenic fungi from foodstuffs at Sohag Governorate, Egypt

Abstract

The common fungi contaminated different 25 foodstuffs collected from Sohag Governorate were isolated and their ability to produce mycotoxins were examined. A total of 150 fungal isolates belonging to 57 species in addition to two species varieties of 13 genera were isolated and identified. The genus Aspergillus was represented by 23 species in addition to two species-varieties followed by Penicillium which was represented by 11 species. The genus Fusarium was represented by 6 species followed by Alternaria (4), Mucor (3), Trichoderma (2) and Achremonium (2 species). The remaining 6 genera were represented by only one species for each genus. All the 150 collected fungal isolates were screened for their ability to produce mycotoxins. The results indicated that 53 out of the 150 fungal isolates (35%) were able to produce one or more of eight mycotoxins (aflatoxin, ochratoxin, fuminisin, sterigmatocystin, patulin, zearalenone, alternariol and diacetoxyscirpenol).