Infection of maize by Fusarium species and contamination with fumonisin in africa

By F. P, H. K., Marasas W.F.O., Wingfield M.J.. 2003

260 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Fusarium is one of the major fungal genera associated with maize in Africa. This genus comprises several toxigenic species including F. verticillioides and F. proliferatum, which are the most prolific producers of fumonisins. The fumonisins are a group of economically important mycotoxins and very common contaminants of maize-based foods and feeds throughout the world. They have been found to be associated with several animal diseases such as leukoencephalomalacia in horses and pulmonary oedema in pigs. Effects of fumonisins on humans are not yet well understood. However, their occurrence in maize has been associated with high incidences of oesophageal and liver cancer. Infection of maize by Fusarium species and contamination with fumonisins are generally influenced by many factors including environmental conditions (climate, temperature, humidity), insect infestation and pre- and postharvest handling. Attempts to control F. verticillioides and to detoxify or reduce fumonisin levels in maize have been undertaken. However, more research studies are urgently needed in order to understand more about this toxin. Fumonisins are less documented because they are recently discovered mycotoxins compared to aflatoxins. To date in Africa, apart from South Africa, very little information is available on Fusarium infection and fumonisin contamination in maize. It is a matter of great concern that on this continent, millions of people are consuming contaminated maize and maize-based foods daily without being aware of the danger. Key words : Fusarium, fumonisins, maize, Africa. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 2 (12), pp. 570-579, December 2003

Subfields: Cell Biology, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/0bd03da3fbb67e70957401a3967d913a3e8746c8

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In Cell Biology

1. K. Hell

In Plant Science

1. P. Fandohan
2. R. Bandyopadhyay
3. A. Abass
4. K. Manjula
5. K. Hell

Citations in the corpus

• Diversity and evolution of Fusarium species in the Gibberella fujikuroi complex (2009, unknown): “The two species also differ myco-toxicologically, with F . proliferatum known to produce higher levels of fumonisins than F . fujikuroi (Rheeder et al ., 2002; Fandohan et al ., 2003; Desjardins, 2006).”
• ANTIFUNGAL EFFECT OF ESSENTIAL OILS ON IN VITRO GROWTH OF PATHOGENIC FUNGI (2008, background): “Aspergillus and Fusarium species produce mycotoxins in food besides causing seedling blight, seed rot, kernel rot, stalk rot, wilt and stunt (Blat, 1969; Thiel et al., 1991; Fandohan et al., 2003).”
• Aflatoxin and fumonisin contamination of cassava products and maize grain from markets in Tanzania and republic of the Congo (2009, background): “Very little information is available on Fusarium infection and fumonisin contamination in maize in Africa outside South Africa (Doko et al., 1995; Doko et al., 1996; Fandohan et al., 2003).”