Hostname: page-component-788cddb947-jbjwg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-08T18:35:23.309Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Propagation of mycotoxigenic fungi in maize stores by post-harvest insects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2009

Yendouban Lamboni
Affiliation:
Ecole Supérieure d'Agronomie, Université de Lomé, BP 1515Lomé, Togo International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, 08 BP 0932, Tri postal, Cotonou, Benin
Kerstin Hell*
Affiliation:
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, 08 BP 0932, Tri postal, Cotonou, Benin
*
Get access

Abstract

Maize pests feeding on grains can transmit with their movement fungi harmful to human and animal health. The aim of the present work was to study the immigration and the dynamics of storage pests in traditional African maize granaries and the fungal spectrum associated with these insects. Treatments were (i) maize cobs protected just after pollination with gauze and stored thereafter, and (ii) unprotected maize cobs as controls. Eight different species of insects were identified in stores. No Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) was found in ‘protected’ maize during the 6 months of storage, but their mean number reached 239 individuals per kilogram after just 3 months of storage in the ‘unprotected’ stores. Similarly, significantly more Sitophiluszeamais (Motschulsky) were recovered from the unprotected than the protected maize treatment. Nine fungal species were found to be associated with the storage insects. On ‘non-protected’ cobs the genus Fusarium (36.05%) was the most frequently identified, followed by Penicillium (23.50%), Rhizoctonia (5.65%) and Aspergillus (3.95%). On protected cobs, Rhizoctonia sp. was most frequent (16.76%), followed by Fusarium spp. (16.62%), Penicillium spp. (8.24%) and Aspergillus spp. (2.33%). The toxigenic species encountered were Aspergillus flavus Link, Aspergillus parasiticus Speare and Fusarium verticillioïdes (Sacc.). Cathartus quadricollis (Guérin) appeared to carry more fungi towards the store, mainly Penicillium spp. (51.47%), Aspergillus spp. (46.56%) and Fusarium spp. (32.01%). Storage pests, in particular C. quadricollis and S. zeamais, play an important role in the contamination of maize with fungi, especially those that produce toxins.

Type
Research Paper
Copyright
Copyright © ICIPE 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ako, M., Schulthess, F., Gumedzoe, M. Y. D. and Cardwell, K. F. (2003) The effect of Fusarium verticillioides on oviposition behaviour and bionomics of lepidopteran and coleopteran pests attacking the stem and cobs of maize in West Africa. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 106, 201210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beti, J. A., Phillips, T. W. and Smalley, E. B. (1995) Effects of maize weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) on production of aflatoxin B by Aspergillus flavus in stored corn. Journal of Economic Entomology 88, 15171838.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biliwa, A. and Richter, J. (1990) Efficacité d'insecticides binaires en poudre sur du maïs égrené, stocké en sacs, pp. 15771585. In Advances in Stored Product Protection: Proceedings of the 5th International Working Conference on Stored-Product Protection (edited by Fleurat-Lessard, F. and Ducom, P.). 9–14 September 1990, Bordeaux, France. Imprimerie du Médoc, Bordeaux.Google Scholar
Borgemeister, C., Adda, C., Djomamou, B., Degbey, P., Agboka, A., Djossou, F., Meikle, W. G. and Markham, R. H. (1994) The effect of maize cob selection and stored maize losses by the larger grain borer P. truncatus (Horn) (Col.: Bostrychidae) and associated storage pests, pp. 909919. In Stored Product Protection. Proceedings of the 6th International Working Conference on Stored Product Protection II, Canberra, Australia (edited by Highley, E., Wright, E. J., Banks, H. J. and Champ, B. R.). CAB International, Wallingford.Google Scholar
Boxall, R. A. (1986) A Critical Review of the Methodology for Assessing Farm-Level Grain Losses after Harvest. TDRI, London. 139 pp.Google Scholar
Cardwell, K. F. and Cotty, P. J. (2002) Distribution of Aspergillus section Flavi among field soils from the four agroecological zones of the Republic of Benin, West Africa. Plant Disease 86, 434439.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cardwell, K. F., Kling, J. G., Maziya-Dixon, B. and Bosqué-Perez, N. A. (2000) Interactions between Fusarium verticillioides, Aspergillus flavus, and insect infestation in four genotypes in lowland Africa. Phytopathology 90, 276.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Délobel, A. and Tran, M. (1993) Les coléoptères des denrées entreposées dans les régions chaudes. CTA/ORSTOM, Paris. 424 pp.Google Scholar
Dobie, P., Haines, C. P., Hodges, R. J., Prevett, P. F. and Rees, D. P. (1991) Insects and Arachnids of Tropical Stored Products: Their Biology and Identification (A training manual). 2nd edn. Natural Resources Institute, Chatham. 246 pp.Google Scholar
Dowd, P. F. (1991) Nitidulids as vectors of mycotoxin-producing fungi, pp. 335342. In Aflatoxin in Corn. New Perspectives. North Central Regional Research Publication 329 (edited by Shotwell, O. L. and Hurburgh, C. R.). Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa.Google Scholar
Dowd, P. F. (1998) Involvement of arthropods in the establishment of mycotoxigenic fungi under field conditions, pp. 307350. In Mycotoxin in Agriculture and Food Safety (edited by Sinha, K. K. and Bhatnagar, D.). Marcel Dekker, New York.Google Scholar
Fandohan, P., Langner, B. and Mutlu, P. (1992) Distribution, recherche et contrôle du Grand Capucin du maïs Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) au Benin, pp. 1828. In Implementation of and Further Research on Biological Control of the Larger Grain Borer (edited by Boeye, J., Wright, M. and Laborius, G. A.). GTZ, Eschborn.Google Scholar
Gaston, K. J., Gregory, R. D. and Blackburn, T. M. (1999) Interspecific relationships between abundance and occupancy among species of Paridae and Sylviidae in Britain. Ecoscience 6, 131142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gwinner, J., Harnish, R. and Mück, O. (1996) Manuel sur la manutention et la conservation des graines après récolte. GTZ, 368 pp.Google Scholar
Hell, K. (1997) Factors contributing to the distribution and incidence of aflatoxin producing fungi in stored maize in Benin. PhD Thesis, University of Hannover, Germany. 143 pp.Google Scholar
ISO (1980) Determination of moisture content (on milled grain and whole grain). ISO 6540 180, Geneva, Switzerland.Google Scholar
King, S. B. and Scott, G. E. (1981) Genotypic differences in maize to kernel infection by Fusarium moniliforme. Phytopathology 71, 12451247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klich, M. A. and Pitt, J. I. (1998) A laboratory guide to the common Aspergillus species and their teleomorphs. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Division of Food Processing, North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia. 116 pp.Google Scholar
Marasas, W. F. O. (1988) Medical relevance of mycotoxins in southern Africa. Microbiology Aliments, Nutrition/Microbiology, Food and Nutrition 6, 15.Google Scholar
Meikle, W. G., Markham, R. H., Holst, N., Djomamou, B., Schneider, H. and Vowotor, K. A. (1998) Distribution and sampling of Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) and Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in maize stores in Benin. Journal of Economic Entomology 91, 13661374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, J. D. (1995) Mycotoxins in Asia: policies for the future. ACIAR Postharvest Newsletter 32, 515.Google Scholar
Munkvold, G. P. and Carlton, W. M. (1997) Influence of inoculation method on systemic Fusarium moniliforme infection of maize plants grown from infected seeds. Plant Disease 81, 211216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pantenius, C. U. (1988) Etat des pertes dans les systèmes de stockage du maïs au niveau des petits paysans de la région maritime du Togo. GTZ, Eschborn, Germany. 83 pp.Google Scholar
Pitt, J. I. and Hocking, A. D. (1999) Fungi and Food Spoilage 2nd edn. Chapman & Hall, Gaithersburg, Maryland. 593 pp.Google Scholar
SAS Institute (2003) SAS User's Guide: Statistics, version 9.1., 9th edn.SAS Institute, Cary, North Carolina.Google Scholar
Scholz, D., Tchabi, A., Borgemeister, C., Markham, R. H., Poehling, H.-M. and Lawson, A. (1997) Host-finding behaviour of Prostephanus truncatus: primary attraction or random attack? Journal of Applied Entomology 121, 261269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scholz, D., Tchabi, A., Markham, R. H., Poehling, H.-M. and Borgemeister, C. (1998) Factors affecting pheromone production and behavioural responses by Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 91, 872878.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schulthess, F., Cardwell, K. F. and Gounou, S. (2002) The effect of endophytic Fusarium verticillioïdes on infestation of two maize varieties by lepidopterous stemborers and coleopteran grain feeders. Phytopathology 92, 120128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watanabe, T. (1994) Pictorial Atlas of Soil and Seed Fungi. Morphologies of Cultured Fungi and Key to Species. Lewis Publishers, London. 411 pp.Google Scholar
Wright, V. F. (1998) Assessment of insect infestation in stored maize and their relationship to Aspergillus flavus contamination. In Mycotoxin Prevention and Control in Food Grains (edited by Semple, R. L., Frio, A. S., Hicks, P. A. and Lozare, J. V.). UNDP/FAO Regional Network Inter-Country Cooperation on Preharvest Technology and Quality Control of Foodgrains (REGNET) and Asean Grain Post harvest Programme. Bangkok, Thailand.Google Scholar
Wright, V. F., Harein, P. K. and Collins, N. A. (1980) Preference of the confused flour beetle for certain Penicillium isolates. Environmental Entomology 9, 213216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar