Aflatoxin Occurrence in Some White Corn Under Loan, 1971: IV. Mold Flora

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Abstract
SUMMARY An extensive, as well as an intensive, study was made of white corn under government loan as it was delivered in 1972 to the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service at Diehlstadt, Missouri. The corn (450,000 bu) came from 77 loans and had been stored on farms. From each of the 1,283 trucks representative samples of corn were taken and ground for aflatoxin assay; a small portion was used to streak plates of yeast extract agar containing tetracycline. After incubation for 5 days at 28 C, the plates were read under a dissecting microscope for the common types of molds with special emphasis on the presence of the Aspergillus flavus group. A rough estimation was made of the A. flavus colonies per plate. Other molds recorded were A. niger, A. fumigatus, A. terreus, A. glaucus group; species of Trichoderma, Penicillium, Fusarium, Rhizopus, Mucor, and Absidia. Of the 1,283 samples, each representing a truck-load of corn, 394 contained aflatoxin, and of these, A. flavus group was present in all but seven. The molds most common in the 1,283 samples were Penicillium sp. (94%), Fusarium sp. (89%), A. flavus (82%), and A. niger (71%). Aspergillus parasiticus was seen in only 15 times. No correlation seemed to exist between the grade of corn and the presence of A. flavus. However with some molds, a higher percentage occurred in the poorer grades. When actual counts of A. flavus were made on corn from three loans, the occurrence of A. flavus closely paralleled the aflatoxin content of the corn samples.

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