ASPERGILLUS SPECIES ISOLATED FROM PISTACHIO AND DETERMINATION OF THEIR AFLATOXIN PRODUCTION

Abstract

Aflatoxins are the most serious problem in production and export of pistachio of Iran. They are amongst the most toxic mycotoxins and are produced predominantly by <em>Aspergillus</em> <em>flavus</em> and <em>A.</em> <em>parasiticus</em>. Pistachio is susceptible to invasion by aflatoxigenic <em>Aspergillus</em> species and subsequent production of aflatoxins, during preharvesting, processing, transportation or storage. Various methods have been used to detect toxin in pistachio such as chromatography (TLC and HPLC), ELISA and PCR base methods. Some of these methods e.g. chromatography, are time consuming, labor-intensive and expensive. In this study, nuts sample of pistachio were collected from pistachio orchards in Kerman, Rafsanjan and Isfahan. Culture media AFPA and PDA, were used to isolate <em>Aspergillus</em> species. Two hundred and fifty isolates were obtained and based on microscopic and macroscopic studies, the isolates belonged to the genera, <em>Aspergillus</em>, <em>Fusarium</em>, <em>Rhizopus</em>, <em>Alternaria</em> and <em>Cladosporium</em>.