ISOLATION, IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF FUNGI ASSOCIATED WITH SPOILAGE OF SOME FRUITS SOLD IN MARKETS OF SOKOTO CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICTS, SOKOTO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Background: The socio-economic impact of pathogenic fungi in destructions of fruits in Sokoto Central Senatorial District were found to be very huge, hence the present study was designed to isolate and identify the species that are responsible for the spoilage of Magnifera indica, Citrullus lanatus, Citrus sinensis and Cucurbita maxima fruits in the area.

Methods: 500 fruits comprising of 80 spoiled and 20 healthy from four (4) different plant species were collected from five different markets in the area. Potato dextrose agar (PDA) was prepared as media for analysis, thin section of each rotten and healthy fruit was inoculated into a medium and incubated at 25oc for five days, the isolates were identified using cultural and morphological features.

Results: The results obtained showed the presence of Aspergilus niger Rhizopus stolonifer, Rhizopus oryzae, Alternaria alternata, Mucor, and Fusarium; in this study, A. niger had highest frequency of 77 (32.08%), while Fusarium showed least frequency of 19 (07.92%), mean frequency of these fungal species was significantly different in all selected markets except Kasuwar Daji as we observed at p<0.05. It was recommended that appropriate preventive and control measures should be considered to reduce the potential loss of the products and serious health consequences in the study area.