Profile of fungal contaminants of maize (Zea mays) intended for consumption and their potential health implications in the Ho municipality of Ghana

Maize is a principal food crop used extensively by both humans and animals in Africa and across the globe. Unfortunately, maize is highly susceptible to fungal contamination, especially with toxicogenic species. The contamination is exacerbated subsequently by mycotoxins of these fungi, which is indeed a major concern to governments and the international community, as it renders the food unsafe for human and animal consumption. Whole maize was sampled from 10 different sites in the Ho municipality, Ghana, and evaluated for moisture contents, fungal count, and species diversity. The fungal analysis was conducted at three points per location. Fungal species were cultured and identified on the two media used; Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) and Dichlor Rose Bengal Chloramphenicol (DRBC). A total of sixteen (16) fungal species belonging to eleven (11) genera were identified in this study. They included Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, A. fumigatus, A. tamarii, A. ochraceous, and A. parasiticus, Cladosporium herbarium, Curvularia lunata, Penicillium citrinum, Fusarium moniliforme, Eurotium sp., Mucor racemosus, Rhizopus stolonifer, Paecilomyces variotii, Neurospora sitophilia and Rhodotorula sp. The genus Fusarium was found to be the most overriding fungus. The overall decreasing order of ranking of occurrence was Fusarium>Penicillium>Aspergillus. Fungal counts of the maize samples ranged between 2.77±1.01- 4.1±0.81 Log10 CFU/g and 3.00±1.13-4.08±1.22 Log10 CFU/g for SDA and DRBC respectively and showed no significant differences (p>0.05). The moisture content of the maize grains ranged between 12.06 ±1.17- 16.71 ± 2.65 %. Generally, there was a weak association between moisture content and fungal counts, which showed a poor fit to the linear equations (R2= 0.1989, R2= 0.0047 for SDA and DRBC respectively). Our results underscore that consumers and farmers should be up-to-date on the danger of fungal contamination in maize. The outcomes of this paper would be worthwhile in advising policy makers to particularly stress on in adopting international legislations on food quality parameters and to use tools that will change the frame of mind of the population on risks involving fungal intoxication. Key words: Maize, fungi, mycoflora, health, Ghana, toxicogenic fungi, pathogenic fungi