Isolation and molecular identification of potential mycotoxigenic fungi from someselected foods

Mycotoxin, produced by filamentous fungi is one of the major contaminants of food which is detrimental to human health and causes severe economic loss. Identification of the different fungal species responsible for food spoilage is important as it will enhance food safety. The main objective of this study was to isolate and identify the fungal food pathogens in some selected foods at molecular level. The food samples were Cake, Dry fish, Corn and Tomato. They were cultured for fungal isolation using selective media. Identification of predominant isolates was done through Phenotypic (cultural and morphological characteristics) and Genotypic characteristics (sequencing by ITS). The most predominant isolates were identified to be Aspergillus flavus strain 1BB₁7, Aspergillus flavus strain Beca ₆7, Fusarium fujikuroi, Fusarium minicarnatum, Aspergillus flavus clone EF₃84, Aspergillus niger strain ND 89 respectively. The result obtained in this study is an indication of possible mycotoxin contamination in foods and its consumption can cause health hazards for humans.