Acta Pharm. 48 (1998) 139-144
Mycological analyses of 64 samples of drug plants
stored and collected from drugstores showed 50.0% of samples to be
contaminated with Rhizopus nigricans.
Aflatoxigenicity of Rhizopus nigricans strains was assessed by
specific fluorescence test in aflatoxin-producing ability medium (APA)
(detection in UV at 365 nm) and by extraction after biosyntheses on
yeast extract sucrose (YES) broth.
Aflatoxins were produced by 40% of strains. All of the aflatoxins-producing
strains in YES showed intensive blue fluorescence in the APA-medium.
The strains of Rhizopus nigricans were producers of two aflatoxins:
AFB1 and AFB2. The concentrations of aflatoxin B1 and aflatoxin B2 ranged
from 1.22 to 1.33 and from 0.10 to 0.20 mg L-1 culture filtrate,
respectively.
The results warn of the risk of improper storing and using drug plants
with no previous evaluation of their quality in terms of mycotoxicological
parameters.
Keywords: mycological contamination, drug plants, Rhizopus nigricans, aflatoxin B1, aflatoxin B2