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Effect of climatic conditions on natural mycoflora and fumonisins in freshly harvested corn of the State of Paraná, Brazil

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Abstract

Natural mycoflora associated with fumonisins were analyzed in 150 samples of freshly harvested corn from Central-Southern, Central-Western and Northern regions of the State of Paraná, Brazil and correlated to climatic conditions. The corn samples were frequently contaminated with Fusarium sp.(98.7 to 100%) and Penicillium sp. (93 to 100%), when compared to Aspergillus sp. (not detected to 27.7%). The highest contamination with potentially mycotoxigenic fungi occurred in corn harvested in the Central-Western region, where total mould and yeast counts ranged from 5.5 × 103 to 5.2 × 106 CFU/g, with 98.7% contaminated byFusarium sp. and 93% by Penicillium sp. In this region F. moniliforme (F. verticillioides) was the predominant Fusariumsp., and was isolated in 85.9% of the samples. Aspergillus sp. was isolated from 27.7% samples. FB1 was detected in 100% of the samples (mean of 2.39 μg/g) and FB2 in 97.7% (mean of 1.09 μg/g). Fumonisins were also detected in all samples from Northern region, with mean of 4.56 μg/g (FB1) and 2.20 μg/g (FB2).Considering 1.0 μg/g as the threshold, 72% of the corn samples from the Central-West and 92% from the North were contaminated with concentrations above this value, in contrast to a 18.5% contamination rate from Central-Southern samples. Between corn planting to harvesting season, the average maximum temperature and relative humidity were 26 °C and 77.1%(Central-Southern), 27 °C and 69% (Northern)and 29.9 °C and 89.1% (Central-Western).Therefore, the higher fumonisins contamination of corn from Northern region when compared to the Central-South were due to the differences in rainfall levels (92.8 mm in Central-Southern, 202 mm in Northern) during the month preceding harvest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Japan

    Elisabete Y. S. Ono

  2. Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Science University of Tokyo, Ichigaya, Tokyo, 162-0826

    Yoshitsugu Sugiura

  3. Department of Agronomy, Japan

    Martin Homechin

  4. Department of Food and Drug Technology, Japan

    Márcia Kamogae & Elisa Y. Hirooka

  5. Department of Applied Mathematics, State University of Londrina, Londrina, Paraná, P.O. Box 6001, 86051-990, Brazil

    Édio Vizzoni

  6. Department of Cellular Toxicology, Tochigi Institute of Clinical Pathology, 2308-3 Minami-Akatsuka, Simotsuga-gun, Tochigi, 329-01112, Japan

    Yoshio Ueno

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  1. Elisabete Y. S. Ono
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Ono, E.Y.S., Sugiura, Y., Homechin, M. et al. Effect of climatic conditions on natural mycoflora and fumonisins in freshly harvested corn of the State of Paraná, Brazil. Mycopathologia 147, 139–148 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007171701245

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