Zearalenone contamination in maize, its associated producing fungi, control strategies, and legislation in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The fungal genus contains many important plant pathogens as well as endophytes of wild and crop plants. Globally, toxins in food crops are considered one of the greatest food safety concerns. Their occurrence has become more pronounced in Africa in recent times.

Mycotoxigenic Fusarium species and zearalenone concentration in commercial maize kernels in northern Ghana.

The fungal genus Fusarium contains many toxigenic pathogens of maize with associated yield losses, reduction of grain quality, and accumulation of mycotoxins in harvested grains. To determine zearalenone (ZEN) concentration and identify the various Fusarium species in commercial maize grains, a survey of 75 maize samples, collected from 11 market centers in the five regions in northern Ghana was identified based on morphological characteristics, sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region, and polymerase chain reaction using species-specific primers. ZEN levels were determined using HPLC.