Mycobiota Isolation and Exposure Assessment of Mycotoxins in Seeds of Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.)

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of mycotoxin and mycobiota contamination in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.; also known as Bajra) seeds that were gathered from the foothills and rain-fed areas of India Rohilkhand region. Ten samples of pearl millet seeds were collected immediately from the main millet-producing areas in the district. The mycobiota was isolated using the agar plate method, and the amounts of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and ochratoxin were determined using thin-layer chromatography and fluorescence detection instruments. Six fungal species were detected in seed samples: Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium verrucosum, Fusarium equiseti, Alternaria alternata, Helminthosporium, and Rhizopus stolonifer. In every location that was investigated, A. flavus was one of the most often detected contaminations in both fresh and preserved seeds. The two least common fungi were Helminthosporium and Fusarium. On average, the pathogen was detected in 27.6% of the samples of pearl millet. Of all the samples, Rajaram-Nawabganj (S9), Ashok- Nawabganj, and Rajaram-Nawabganj (S9) showed the highest rates of germination (97.3%), whereas Kamal-Bhuta (S5) had the lowest rate of 28.0% for pearl millet. The major fungus, mycobiota, produces the toxic secondary metabolic products, AFB1 and ochratoxin A (OTA). Fifty percent of the millet samples had OTA and 60% had AFB1. For OTA and AFB1, the contaminated samples had mean amounts of these mycotoxins ranging from 3.1 to 52.46 μg/kg and 0.63-61.13 μg/kg, respectively. The concentrations of AFB1 and OTA were found to be 3.89 and 3.76 ng/kg b.w. each day, respectively. . KEYWORDS :Mycobiota, Mycotoxins, Pearl millet