Identification of Aspergillus section Flavi and Fumigati in maize grown in Burkina Faso

Molds are frequent contaminants of foodstuffs. Their presence can alter sanitary and organoleptic qualities of food by secondary metabolites production such as mycotoxins. This study aims to isolate and identify Aspergillus section Flavi and Fumigati such as Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus and Aspergillus fumigatus strains from maize seeds grown in Burkina Faso. Three strains of Aspergillus M1, M2 and M3 were isolated and purified on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and Sabouraud chloramphenicol agar. The characterization focused on the morphological and microscopic criteria and the aflatoxins production capacity, achieved by blue-green fluorescence under ultraviolet light at 365 nm, of the colonies after three (3) days on coconut agar medium (CMA). Four reference strains served as a basis for comparison, such as Aspergillus flavus UBOCC-A-106031 France, Aspergillus parasiticus var. globosus UBOCC-A-111042 Japan and Aspergillus fumigatus S1, Aspergillus flavus S2 isolated and identified from previous work in Burkina Faso. According to morphological comparison results, the three strains M1, M2 and M3 isolated from maize seeds belong to Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Both Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus produced aflatoxin.