The detection of spoilage fungi and mycotoxins contamination in peanut cake product, popularly called ''kulikuli'' was investigated in this study. Forty five major markets were sampled and peanut cake products were analyzed for aflatoxins and ochratoxin A contaminations, and associated mycoflora. Total coliform count ranged between 1.6 × 10 1 and 14.0 × 10 2 CFU g-1 , while the fungal count was between 1.0 to 8.1 × 10 2 CFU g-1. Bacteria isolated from peanut cake product were Eschericha coli, Klebsiella spp. and Clostridium spp. The fungal isolates include Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus, Aspergillus spp., Fusarium spp., and Penicillium spp. being the dominant microflora in decreasing frequency of occurrence. High concentrations of aflatoxins were detected. They were between 25.54 to 455.22 µg/kg for AFB 1 , 33.94 to 491.20 µg/kg for AFB 2 , 0.41 to 100.33 µg/kg for AFG 1 and 22.04 to 87.73 µg/kg for AFG 2. Ochratoxin A concentrations ranged between 0.3 and 2 µg/kg. The coexistence of aflatoxins and ochratoxin A (OTA) in peanut was also established. The results show that peanut cake product sold in market was highly contaminated and therefore unacceptable for human nutrition.

Kpatinvoh et al., J. Appl. Biosci. 2017 Efficacité des huiles essentielles de trois plantes aromatiques contre la mycoflore d'altération du niébé collecté dans les magasins de vente du Sud-Bénin 10680Journal of Applied Biosciences 109: 10680-10687 ISSN 1997-5902 Efficacité des huiles essentielles de trois plantes aromatiques contre la mycoflore d'altération du niébé (Vigna unguiculata L., Walp) collecté dans les magasins de vente du Sud-Bénin ABSTRACT Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial activity of essential oils extracted from fresh leaves of Cymbopogon citratus (L.), Cymbopogon nardus (L.), and Eucalyptus saligna (S.), on isolated fungi of cowpea collected from a few retail store in southern Benin. Methodology and Results: Sampling was carried out in a few large cowpea retail store located in the markets of Dantokpa (Cotonou) and Ouando (Porto-Novo), followed by research and isolation of the alteration mycoflora. Antifungal tests were carried out with various essential oils in other to assess their antimicrobial potential. Kpatinvoh et al., J. Appl. Biosci. 2017 Efficacité des huiles essentielles de trois plantes aromatiques contre la mycoflore d'altération du niébé collecté dans les magasins de vente du Sud-Bénin 10681Results obtained, indicated that the microbial strains isolated from the cowpea samples are essentially Aspergillus flavus (L.), Aspergillus tamarii (K.) and Penicillium roqueforti (T.). Antimicrobial tests have demonstrated that essential oils have high antimicrobial activities against fungal flora contaminating cowpea with minimal inhibition concentrations depend on fungi and the dose of essential oil tested. The highest antifungal activities were obtained with essential oils from Cymbopogon citratus (L.) and Cymbopogon nardus (L.) with MIC ranged from 0.05 to 1µl/ml. Conclusion: The antifungal potential of these plants therefore offers an innovative approach in the management of cowpea stocks in southern Benin.

The microbiological and nutritional characterization of locust bean pulp powder (Parkia biglobosa) was investigated. Bacteria and fungi were isolated from this product. The bacteria isolated were essentially fecal coliforms. The fungal isolates were Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus ochraceus and Penicillium digitatum. The mean total plate count of samples was 2.8 × 10 3 cfu/g, while the mean coliform total count was lower than 10 cfu/g and the mean fungal count was 1.9 × 10 3 cfu/g. The respective mean moisture content and total acidity in locust bean pulp powder were 24.16 ± 2.45 and 2.10 ± 0.95%. Nutritional analysis showed that locust bean pulp powder has interesting nutritional potential. Carbohydrate content (6.28 ± 0.67%), protein content (4.129 ± 0.328%), carotenoid content (0.154 ± 0.03%) and the presence of minerals such as calcium (0.166 ± 0.005%), sodium (0.228 ± 0.006%), potassium (1.60 ± 0.071%) and magnesium (0.144 ± 0.002%) allowed its application as supplement in infant feeding in rural areas. Anti-nutritional factors such as oxalate and phytate were detected in samples, and values were lower than established toxic level. Finally, more attention should be made to its microbial quality in order to preserve children's health.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of essential oil from fresh leaves of Sweet Fennel (Ocimum gratissimum) on mycoflora and Aspergillus section Flavi populations in stored peanuts. Aspergillus, Fusarium and Mucor spp. were the most common genera identified from peanuts at post-harvest in Benin by using a taxonomic schemes primarily based on morphological characters of mycelium and conidia. The isolated fungi include Aspergillus niger, A. parasiticus, A. flavus, A. ochraceus, Fusarium graminearum, F. solani, F. oxysporum and Mucor spp. The most prevalent fungi recorded were A. niger (94.18 %), A. flavus (83.72 %), A. parasiticus (77.90 %), A. ochraceus (72.09 %), F. graminearum (59.30 %) and F. oxysporum (51.16 %). Antifungal assay, performed by the agar medium assay, indicated that essential oil exhibited high antifungal activity against the growth of A. flavus, A. parasiticus, A. ochraceus and F. oxysporium. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the essential oil was found to be 7.5 μl/ml for A. flavus and A. parasiticus and 5.5 μl/ml for A. ochraceus and F. oxysporium. The minimal fungicidal concentration (MFC) was recorded to be 8.0 μl/ml for A. flavus and A. parasiticus, 6,5 μl/ml for A. ochraceus and 6.0 μl/ml for F. oxysporium. The essential oil was found to be strongly fungicidal and inhibitory to aflatoxin production. Chemical analysis by GC/MS of the components of the oil led to the identification of 31 components characterized by myrcene (6.4 %), α-thujene (8.2 %), p-cymene (17.6 %), γ-terpinene (20.0 %), and thymol (26.9 %) as major components. The essential oil of Sweet Fennel, with fungal growth and mycotoxin inhibitory properties, offers a novel approach to the management of storage, thus opening up the possibility to prevent mold contamination in stored peanuts.

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