MAIZE

Maize (Zea mays) is a cereal crop which is an important raw material in human diet. It is an annual grass in the family Poaceae and is a staple food crop grown all over the world. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify fungi from maize and its products (pap). A total of 6 samples from six vendors were cultured for total heterotrophic fungi counts on different potato dextrose agar (PDA). The total fungi count of maize and pap samples ranged from 0.4 × 10 6 – 1.4 × 10 6 cfu/g and 1.40 ×10 2 - 2.00 ×10 6 cfu/g respectively. A total of 37 fungal isolates were identified. The morphological, cultural and biological characteristics of fungi isolates revealed the following fungi species; Penicillium oxalium, Penicillium italicum, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Mucor mucedo, Penicillium oxalium, Cladiosporium sp., Saccharomyces spp., Mucor sp., Clavispora spp., Cryptomonas spp. and Saccharomycodes, Galcatomyces. The results of fungi diversity in different samples revealed that samples A (21.6 %), C (24.3 %) as the most contaminated isolates, while sample D (10.8) and F (10.8) was the least contaminated. This study revealed the common fungi flora of maize and pap samples sold in local markets in Benin City. This study revealed the common fungi flora, their distribution in maize and pap and some possibly fungi contaminants which may not be directly associated with maize and pap. The distribution of fungi species in maize and pap samples may be dependent upon environmental conditions at the time of harvest, processing and the difference between the storage structures. It is therefore recommended that further studies be undertaken to understand the role of each fungi general isolated in this study and their source of contamination