Aflatoxins B and g contamination and aflatoxigenic fungi in nutmeg.

This study examined the distribution of aflatoxigenic fungi in 25 imported Indonesian nutmeg samples contaminated with aflatoxins Bs or Bs and Gs. The incidence of aflatoxigenic fungi in the samples contaminated with high levels of aflatoxin was significantly higher than that in the samples with low levels of the toxins(r=0.752). The aflatoxin production of isolates from the samples in cultures of YES broth was examined by means of TLC and HPLC analyses. The ability of isolates to produce aflatoxins did not necessarily correlate with the contamination levels of aflatoxin in the samples. We isolated aflatoxins B and G-producing fungi from 3 samples contaminated with the high levels of aflatoxins B and G. The aflatoxigenic isolates were identified as Aspergillus nomius and A. bombycis based on morphological characters, growth rates at 37°C and 42°C and also molecular-genetic methods. Our results indicate that these two species are mainly responsible for aflatoxin G contamination in nutmeg products.