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

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Abstract
An extensive and 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 [USA]. The corn (450,000 bu) came from 77 loans and was stored on farms. From each of the 1283 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.degree. 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 1283 samples, each representing a truckload of corn, 394 contained aflatoxin, and of these, A. flavus group was present in all but 7. The molds most common in the 1283 samples were Penicillium sp. (94%), Fusarium sp. (89%), A. flavus (82%), and A. niger (71%). Aspergillus parasiticus was seen only 15 times. No correlation seemed to exist between the grade of corn and the presence of A. flavus, but with some molds, a higher percentage occurred in the poorer grades. When actual counts of A. flavus were made on corn from 3 loans, the occurrence of A. flavus closely paralleled the aflatoxin content of the corn samples.

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