Abstract
Aflatoxins are produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus which principally distribute in the tropical and subtropical regions. In Japan, Manabe et al. showed that the toxigenic fungi were often found in the southern part of Japan such as Kyushu and Okinawa Districts. The fungi infect and contaminate many kinds of agricultural commodities, not only nuts and oil seeds but also other agricultural comodities with aflatoxin. Sugarcane is commonly grown in the tropical and subtropical regions. Tabata et al. showed that aflatoxin was detected in crude sugar (brown sugar) produced in the southernmost part of Japan such as Okinawa although the content of the mycotoxin was low levels of 1.0-1.5 ppb. Therefore, we investigated distribution of aflatoxin-producing fungi in soil and air of sugarcane field as well as harvested sugarcane stem in the southernmost regions. There, we found a variety of aflatoxin-producing fungi including A. parasiticus, and then separated on basis of morphological criteria and mycotoxin producrion.
