Composition of the fungal flora of four cereal grains in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Using the grain-plate method and on glucose- Czapek 's agar at 28 degrees C, fifty-eight species belonging to 26 genera were collected from barley (42 species and 19 genera), maize (29 species and 16 genera), sorghum (32 species and 17 genera) and wheat grains (42 species and 18 genera). The most frequent genera were Aspergillus, Penicillium, Rhizopus, Fusarium, and Mucor followed by Alternaria, Drechslera , and Curvularia. From the preceding genera Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, Penicillium notatum, Rhizopus stolonifer , Fusarium moniliforme, Mucor racemosus, Alternaria alternata, Drechslera spicifera , and Curvularia lunata were the most prevalent species in the four types of grains tested.