Mycoflora and aflatoxins status of some spices and herbs commonly consumed in Taiz Governorate, Republic of Yemen [electronic resource].

Includes references.

The present work was carried out on 105 samples representing 21 kinds of spices (5 samples each) commonly consumed in Taiz city, Yemen. Ajawan, black cumin, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, ginger, laurel. and thyme were highly polluted. Whereas black mustard, caraway, cardamom, fennel, garden cress, nutmeg and red pepper moderately contaminated by mould and yeasts. On the other hand, anise, black pepper, cinnamon, linseed and safflower were less contaminated by moulds and yeasts. Clove samples were free from mould and yeasts. The mycological survey of the different spices revealed that they were heavily contaminated with mould and yeasts, where about 91.42 % of the samples examined were contaminated with fungi. Ninety-one species and two varieties appertaining to 25 genera were isolated. Aspergillus,Rhizopus and Penicillium species contributed the broadest spectra of species. Aspergillus was the most prevalent genus, it occurred in 90.5 % of the samples constituting 65.1 % of total fungal count. Among fungi recovered in these work, 14 species were new records in Yemen. The results proved the presence of aflatoxin B, in seven samples while the rest 14 tested samples were free from any detectable amount ofaflatoxins.

Summary in Arabic.

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