Vicia faba (faba bean) is one of the most significant leguminous crops. The faba bean is specialized by maximum nutritional value, in energy and protein content, which leads it to be suitable for food and feed production. Diseases caused with fungi are amongst the biotic factors responsible for decreasing in faba bean yields. In this work, Cladosporium isolates were recorded in cultivated faba bean leaves and pods collected from markets in Qena, Upper Egypt; morphological features and molecular characterization based on actin gene were performed. The ability of the pathogens to cause disease in faba bean seedlings and the biocontrol method to avoid the pathogenic effect of Cladosporium were determined. Results showed that Cladosporium is the main genera isolated from faba beans, and the morphological criteria showed presence of three species complex groups of Cladosporium (C. cladosporioides, C. herbarum and C. sphaerospermum) and the confirmation with molecular characterization revealed the existence of four species in the three groups. All the 26 tested strains of Cladosporium were able to cause leaf lesions on Vicia faba seedlings with different levels. Chaetomium globosum is a biocontrol agent could inhibit the growth of the majority strains of Cladosporium.

Essential oils are natural antimicrobial agents that can be used to control fungal and mycotoxin contamination. Although there are numerous reports discussing the fungal and mycotoxin contamination of foods, there are few researches on baby food contamination so this work aimed to determine the fungal and mycotoxin contamination in cerelac, cornflakes and milk powder and tried to control the mycotoxigenic strain growth and their production of mycotoxins by using essential oils. Cornflakes were heavily contaminated (24 species including 9 genera), while cerelac and milk powder were less contaminated. Aspergillus and Penicillium were the prevalent genera. The produced aflatoxins and ochratoxins from the tested strains of Aspergillus flavus and A. niger were extracted and estimated by fluorometric method. We used the 18S rRNA sequence technique to identify the genotypes of the three isolates. Two isolates were identified as Aspergillus niger and the third isolate as A. flavus. Omt‐A gene was detected in the A. flavus, while Aopks gene was detected in A. niger isolates. Amongst the five used essential oils, only cumin and peppermint oil depressed the mycotoxigenic strain growth and peppermint oil had the highest result. Its inhibitory effect on aflatoxin and ochratoxin production was evaluated. Aflatoxin production was highly reduced by 52.1%, but ochratoxin inhibition was very low, 4.88% and 3.17% by A. niger obtained from cornflakes and milk powder, respectively. The three tested samples were contaminated by ochratoxins, but cerelac and milk powder samples were free of aflatoxins. Cornflakes sample recorded the highest reading for both toxins.

Spices are portions of plants because their properties are used as colorants, preservatives, or medicine. The employments of spices have been known since long time, and the interest in the capability of spices is astounding because of the chemical compounds contained in spices. The molds grow on a variety of different crops and foodstuffs including spices often under warm and humid conditions. The mycobiota of five spice species were surveyed. Forty‐six fungal species were obtained. Aspergillus flavus and A. niger were the prevalent species recorded. The aflatoxins (AFs) and ochratoxins (OTs) were detected in some samples and isolates. Cumin had the highest concentration of AFs 8.2 ppb, while ginger had a considerable occurrence of OTs 6.7 ppb. A. flavus obtained from ginger recorded the maximum concentration of AFs 7.5 ppb, and A. niger from turmeric was the highest producer for OTs 3.6 ppb. omt‐A and Aopks genes were detected in all tested A . flavus isolates and two out of four A. niger isolates. One of the important properties of spices is cancer etiology and prevention. Ginger and sage were the highest cytotoxic against four human tumor cell lines.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the known five crops cultivated throughout the world after corn, barley, cereals, rice, and wheat, due to its content of high carbohydrates. In developing countries, potatoes are especially had valuable contents as a rich source of starch, vitamins C and B6, and essential amino acids. Fusarium solani species complex (FSSC) is one of the prevalent pathogens of potato, causing dry rot in Upper Egypt. In this study, FSSC were isolated and identified from potato tubers based on the morphological and molecular characteristics. F. solani isolates (187) were isolated from infected and noninfected potato tubers collected from various markets in Upper Egypt. Based on the morphology observations, sequence data from amplifying β‐tubulin, and specific translation elongation factor (TEF‐1α) genes, all of the chosen 88 FSSC isolates were grouped into three major groups (F. keratoplasticum, F. falciforme, and F. solani). All the tested FSSC were able to produce amylases. The selected isolates were examined for their pathogenic ability on healthy potato tubers, which exhibited pathogenic effects; with lesions sizes were quite variable. F. solani SVUFs73 showed a highly virulent effect.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important crop which holds promise for food security considering the global population growth rate. Fusarium dry rot is one of the most significant diseases of potato. To build up strategies for the control of this disease, it ought to be made primarily a correct diagnosis and identification of the pathogen. A total of 504 Fusarium isolates were recovered from potato tubers collected from Upper Egypt. Fusarium isolates were identified based on morphology and partial DNA sequencing of β-tubulin (TUB) genes. 62.5% of the isolates were identified as F. sambucinum, followed F. oxysporum (57.5%), then F. verticillioides (56.25%) and F. incarnatum (47.5%). All the tested Fusarium species were able to produce amylase. The pathogenicity of the isolates was tested by inoculation of healthy potato tubers; all of the tested isolates were pathogenic to healthy potato tubers. F. sambucinum had a highly virulent effect.