Vol 6, No 1, December 2015.

Mycobiota associated with weaning dried foods consumed in Taïz City, Republic of Yemen


Abstract: A total of thirty-eight fungal species and one variety belonging to 16 genera were recovered from local traditional weaning dried food (12 samples: 27 spp., 11 genera, and cereal-legumes ingredients (40 samples: 34 spp., 15 genera). The total number of CFU of fungi, including yeasts, clearly showed that the local weaning food was seriously contaminated with fungi (45263, calculated per gm in each of the 12 samples comparable to 3068 per gm in each of the cereal legumes). On the other hand, the 12 samples of imported commercial weaning food collected from the pharmacies were fungus-free, which means that the manufacture processes of production eliminate all fungi from their ingredients. Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium were regularly the most common genera, and possessed the broadest spectrum of species during the study, of which the most dominant species were Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, Fusarium oxysporum and Penicillium chrysogenum and P. corylophilum. Key words: Fungi, weaning foods, cereals, legumes, mycobiota.