Isolation of Mycotoxigenic Fungi, Detection and Quantification of Ochratoxin A from Coffee (<i>Coffea arabica</i> L.)

Abstract

Coffee is the most important commodity and source of export earnings in Ethiopian economy which has to fulfills the quality standards of safety up to maximum tolerable level. However, it is naturally associated with several mycoflora and some of them may produce Ochratoxin A unless careful handling measures taken place. Therefore, this research was initiated to assess the status of mycotoxigenic fungi associated with coffee and quantification of Ochratoxin A from locally consumed coffee in Ethiopia. A total of 75 coffee samples were collected from three districts namely, Haru, Homa and Nedjo of West Wollega Zone, Oromia regional state of Ethiopia. Determination of coffee associated mycoflora isolation and identification were conducted at Jimma Agricultural Research Center of plant pathology laboratory while Ochratoxin A detection and quantification were conducted at Ambo Plant Protection Research Center. Malt Extract Agar (MEA) was used for isolation and identification of mycoflora associated with coffee and ELISA kit was used to detect and quantify Ochratoxin A. The result showed that numbers of mycoflora associated with coffee were observed and five of them become the major. Aspergillus niger was the most dominant (73.37%) species detected from most coffee samples, followed by Aspergilus ochraceus (11.30%), Fusarium spp. (7.37%), Penicillium spp. (6.74%), and Rhizopus spp. (1.50%), respectively. Average ochratoxinA recorded was 0 (ND) ppb, 1.24 ppb and 2.02 ppb from Haru, Homa and Nedjo.