Studies on the mycoflora and formation of mycotoxins in different cultivars of local wheat used in food fermentation

This study involved several varieties of wheat are cultivated in the costal and semi-desert southern regions of Libya. Almost of these varieties are used in the production of traditional flat bread, pasta, baby food and cakes. Bad storage of these varieties makes it to be infected by fungi there is little published informations on the fermentation processes and possible fungal metabolites which may be associated with these products. A survey of mycoflora and aflatoxins present in wheat varieties was conducted to evaluate the risk of these varieties may pose. Five Libyan cultivars were investigated initially for their microbiological profile. Tests were carried out on isolation, identification and enumeration of aflatoxigenic moulds. Moulds were identified using techniques described by Samson et. al; (2002). The majority of studied wheat varieties contained detectable levels of moulds. Aspergillus spp. was present in all the untreated wheat samples, with the exception of one local variety which contained a small trace of aflatoxin. All the local wheat samples were found to be free of internal fungi after surface disinfection