Publication no. C-2002-0806-06R |  VIEW ARTICLE

Mycoflora Distribution in Dry-Milled Fractions of Corn in Argentina.

L. E. Broggi (1), H. H. L. González (2,3), S. L. Resnik (4-6), and A. M. Pacin (4,7). (1) Facultad de Bromatología, Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos, Entre Ríos, Argentina. (2) Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires, Argentina. (3) Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. (4) Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. (5) Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Present address: Departamento de Industrias, Ciudad Universitaria (C1428DHQ) Núñez, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fax: 011-4631-1148. (6) Corresponding author. E-mail: <resnik@di.fcen.uba.ar> Phone/fax: 54 011-4631-1148. (7) Centro de Investigación en Micotoxinas, Universidad Nacional de Luján, Argentina. Cereal Chem. 79(5):741-744. Accepted March 31, 2002. Copyright 2002 American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc.

Corn samples and different commercial dry-milled fractions collected from an industrial mill in Argentina were surveyed for fungal contamination. The percentage of Fusarium isolates in whole corn kernels among all fungi recovered was 2.0-97.0%; in corn grits, it was 2.6-50.0%. Maximum levels in the other fractions were 5.2 × 10(^5) colony forming units per gram (CFU/g) in germ and bran, 5.0 × 10(^3) CFU/g in C flour, and 2.7 × 10(^3) CFU/g in corn meal. The high initial contamination from whole corn is reflected in germ and bran, which is destined for animal consumption, but not in corn meal. F. verticillioides and Aspergillus flavus were the most frequent species in the whole corn kernel, but F. verticillioides was prevalent in all the other industrial fractions. Other potentially toxigenic fungi that were isolated included Aspergillus parasiticus, Alternaria alternata, Penicillium citrinum, and P. funiculosum. In this first report about mold contamination in corn industrial dry-milled fractions in Argentina, the high fungal contamination level observed in the stored corn could indicate the necessity to improve the hybrid quality and the storage conditions to diminish the risk of mycotoxin occurrence.