Abstract:
Mycoflora of maize (Zea mays L.) grain (Variety: Bako Hybrid-660) stored in two
traditional storage containers (Gombisa and Sacks) for 180 days was studied for
mycoflora in two agro-ecologies, that is Intermediate and Lowland, with altitude
ranges of 1500-2500 meters above sea level, and 1000-1500 meters above sea level,
respectively, in Jimma zone, Ethiopia. The temperature and relative humidity were
observed for identifying fungi species which can flourish and cause maximum
deterioration to maize grains. Significant (P<0.05) decreases in germination rate of
the grains were observed with time under each storage method for both the low and
intermediate altitude ranges. Germination percentage reduced from 98% and 97.5% to
68.5% and 80.5% for grains stored in Gombisa and Sacks, respectively. Storage type
significantly (p<0.05) affected seed germination under intermediate agro-ecology
whereas no significant (p>0.05) effect was observed under lowland agro-ecology due
to storage container type. One sterile white mycelium and a total number of eight
species of fungi viz., Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger,
Aspergillus tereus, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Drechslera halodes, Fusarium
oxysporum and Penicillium chrysogenum were identified from maize grain at the
beginning and during storage. The most common fungi recorded from both agroecologies in the two storage structures were A. flavus, A. niger, D. halodes and F.
oxysporum. These fungi were recorded from 90, 51, 72 and 44 percentage of the seed
samples, respectively. In the districts of both intermediate and lowland agro-ecology
these fungi were consistently recorded throughout 180 days, during storage. A.
fumigatus was detected in3.6% of samples while C. cladosporioides observed in 15%
of the samples. Fungal species A. tereus and Penicillium were recorded in 0.5% of
samples in selected districts of Jimma. These fungal species were known to cause
deterioration of maize and are a health risk to humans and animals due to the toxins
they potentially produce
