Mycological Quality of Relief Maize Meal and Nutritional Supplement of Maize Product (Unimix) in Moyale, Northern Kenya

Aims: Determination of mycological quality of relief maize meal and Nutritional supplement of maize product (Unimix) in Moyale, Northern Kenya as regards aflatoxin producing fungi and aflatoxin Contamination.

Study Design: Purposeful sampling technique was applied targeting homesteads depending on relief food supplies.

Place and Duration of Study: Homesteads in Manyatta and Burji regions, Moyale town in Northern Kenya were sampling sites. Sampling was undertaken in January-February, 2016 while laboratory analysis was in March-April 2016.

Methodology: A total of 32 samples (maize meal: n=20; unimix: n=12) were obtained from homesteads and put in clean paper bags ready for transport to Nairobi for laboratory analysis. Mycological analysis was on Potato Dextrose Agar where fungal load was expressed as Colony forming Units (CFU/g) while aflatoxin quantification applied competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for total aflatoxin levels using Helica Biosystems' kit. Data analysis using student’s t-test and Pearson’s correlation test was undertaken on various variables namely; mean fungal load, mean aflatoxin levels, frequency of fungi and aflatoxins alongside correlation between fungal and aflatoxin levels(P=0.05).

Results: Prevalence of aflatoxin producing fungal spp. among maize meal and Unimix samples were 90% and 0%, respectively with mean fungal load of 288 CFU/g and 27 CFU/g, respectively. The mean fungal load for Unimix samples was 26.7±9.9 CFU/g while for maize meal samples it was 287.7±83.2 CFU/g. Incidence of aflatoxins was in 100% and 91.7% of maize meal and Unimix samples, respectively with the mean contamination levels 6.6 ppb and 3.1 ppb, respectively thereby demonstrating that the difference was not significantly different (P=0.05). Similarly, a negative correlation coefficient (r2= -0.212) was established between fungal and aflatoxin contamination in maize meal (P=0.05). The prevalence of other potential mycotoxigenic fungal spp., Fusarium and Penicillium exhibited similar contamination patterns having been 100% among Maize meal samples, respectively while Unimix lacked any contamination.