Production of aflatoxin by the culture of strains of Aspergillus flavus‐oryzae on sterilized peanuts

By growing Aspergillus parasiticus (C.M.I. 15957) under controlled conditions on sterilized peanuts an average of 265 mg. of aflatoxin per kilogram of peanuts has been produced and subsequently isolated. Other strains from the A. flavus ‐ oryzae group gave lower yields of aflatoxin and one such strain gave aflatoxin from which certain normal components were absent. The aflatoxin produced on sterilized peanuts by any particular strain of A. flavus ‐ oryzae was shown by thin‐layer chromatography to contain the same major components as were produced by that strain on unsterilized whole peanuts.