Aflatoxin Occurrence in 1973 Corn at Harvest. II. Mycological Studies

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Abstract
Since aflatoxin is formed in corn in the field before harvest, the objectives were to determine at harvest the amount of Aspergillus flavus-infected corn kernels, the amount of A. flavus spores on the surface of corn, the total amount of fungus-infected kernels, the occurrence of A. flavus spores in and on insects from corn reported in the first paper of this series and the correlation between A. flavus infection and occurrence of aflatoxin. The corn was collected at harvest from 7 counties in NE South Carolina [USA] and dried to < 13% moisture as quickly as possible. Of the 152 aflatoxin-positive samples, 120 showed 1 or more kernels internally infected with A. flavus and of the 145 aflatoxin-negative samples, 59 showed infection. Of the 297 samples examined, 276 had 1 or more kernels with surface contamination of A. flavus spores and in 75 of the samples every kernel was contaminated. When kernels were surface disinfected, 224 samples (50 kernels each) showed 100% internal mold contamination. One or more kernels of 185 samples were infected with A. flavus; this number represents 60% of the total samples. Of the 375 insects collected and examined for A. flavus from the corn samples, 247 showed A. flavus present. Of the 85 rice weevils, 78 were carrying A. flavus spores and of the other 290 insects, 165 were contaminated. Besides A. flavus, the predominant infecting fungi internally were 2 spp. of Penicillium and Fusarium. Members of the Mucorales were rarely seen.

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