Effect of different storage materials on fungal load and proximate composition of groundnut

抄録

The effect of three different storage materials on the fungal load and proximate composition of three groundnut varieties were examined at the laboratory of the Department of Crop Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin, Nigeria. The seeds of three groundnut varieties, SAMNUT 21, SAMNUT 22 and SAMNUT 23, were obtained from the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR) Samaru Zaria and planted following standard agronomic practices for groundnut. Freshly harvested seeds at 12% moisture content level were stored under ambient condition in PICS bag, Airtight Plastic Container and Zero Fly Bag obtained from the Nigeria Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) Ilorin for four months duration. Isolation of fungi from the seeds before and after the storage was carried out using the Agar Plate incubation method and identification of the isolated fungi was done by comparing the morphological and microscopic characteristics of the isolates with those described in standard references. Proximate composition of the seeds in terms of moisture content, crude protein, carbohydrate, ash, ether extract and nitrogen free extract, were determined before and after storage. The fungi isolated during the study include Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, Fusarium sp., Penicillium sp., Trichoderma sp., Rhizopus sp. and Colletotrichum sp. The results shows significant difference (p<0.05) in the percentage incidence of the fungal species isolated from the three groundnut varieties before and after storage in the different storage materials. The results also shows that except for ash content in SAMNUT 21 and SAMNUT 23, there was significant difference (p<0.05) in the percentage composition of ash in SAMNUT 22 and the other nutrients in all the three groundnut varieties before and after the storage in all the storage materials. The prospect for the use of these storage materials is discussed.