Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Aug;41(3):415-423.
doi: 10.1007/s12550-025-00590-5. Epub 2025 May 7.

Aspergillus species and aflatoxin contamination of tobacco snuff samples sold in some parts of southeastern Nigeria

Chinonso Celestina Ugwuanyi  1 , Paul Ekene Chidebelu  1 , Emeka Innocent Nweze  2
Affiliations

Aspergillus species and aflatoxin contamination of tobacco snuff samples sold in some parts of southeastern Nigeria

Chinonso Celestina Ugwuanyi et al. Mycotoxin Res. 2025 Aug.

Abstract

Several commodities have been frequently reported to be contaminated by aflatoxins, but little is known about aflatoxin accumulation in tobacco snuff frequently consumed globally, especially in Nigeria. Ascertaining their aflatoxin content and by extension, the health implications on those who use these tobacco products are necessary. Snuff samples from 30 vendors in six randomly selected markets were screened for Aspergillus spp. DNA sequencing was used for molecular identification of isolated Aspergillus flavus by amplifying the ITS region of ribosomal DNA using ITS1 and ITS4 primers. The isolates were screened for aflatoxin biosynthesis genes such as ver-1, nor-1 and omt-1 genes. Aflatoxin production potentials of the isolates were analyzed using maize kernels and quantified using thin layer chromatography (TLC) technique. The tobacco snuff samples were also analyzed to detect aflatoxins and their accumulation. Forty-two Aspergillus species were recovered and identified. Aspergillus niger (24) was the most common species with an occurrence rate of 57%, followed by Aspergillus fumigatus (13), at 31% occurrence, while only five (12%) Aspergillus flavus were recovered. Out of the three selected genes screened, nor-1 gene was confirmed to be present in the five isolates, whereas ver-1 and omt-1 genes were absent. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and aflatoxin B2 (AFB2) were detected in both snuff and maize samples, while aflatoxin G1 (AFG1) and aflatoxin G2 (AFG2) were absent in all samples. This study confirms that most snuff sold in markets are contaminated with toxigenic fungi. Proper production procedure and enhancement in the sanitary standards of markets and vendors will help reduce contaminations.

Keywords: Aflatoxin; Agriculture, Southeast Nigeria; Aspergillus; Contamination; Tobacco Snuff.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

References

    1. Agbetiameh D, Ortega-Beltran A, Awuah RT, Atehnkeng J, Cotty PJ, Bandyopadhyay R (2018) Prevalence of aflatoxin contamination in maize and groundnut in Ghana: population structure, distribution, and toxigenicity of the causal agents. Plant Dis 102:764–772. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-05-17-0749-RE - DOI
    1. Caceres I, Khoury AA, Khoury RE, Lorber S, Oswald IP, Khoury AE, Atoui A, Puel O. and Bailly J. (2020). Aflatoxin biosynthesis and genetic regulation. Toxins. 12(3): 150. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins12030150
    1. Dagenais TR, Keller NP (2009) Pathogenesis of Aspergillus fumigatus in invasive Aspergilloses. Clin Microbiol Rev 22:447–465. https://doi.org/10.1128/CMR.00055-08
    1. Demain AL, Fang A (2000) The natural functions of secondary metabolites. Adv Biochem Eng Biotechnol 69:1–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44964-7_1 - DOI
    1. Demirel R, Sariozlu NY, Ilhan S (2013) Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) identification of terverticillate penicillium species isolated from agricultural soils in Eskişehir Province. Braz Arch Biol Technol 56(6):980–984. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1516-89132013005000004 - DOI

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources