Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxin contaminations of maize ears and kernels in Thailand

The population of Aspergillus flavus and the amounts of aflatoxins in maize ears and kernels collected from 4 areas in Thailand in 1987 were studied. Eleven maize ear samples from the randomly selected fields showed no infection of A. flavus and very low amount (9 ppb) of aflatoxin B1 was found in only one sample. Similarly, the infection of A. flavus in 6 maize ear samples collected from farmers' and middlemen's storages was very low (0-3% of kernels from the ear); two samples of them were positive for aflatoxins (aflatoxin B19 and 58 ppb). However, all 15 maize kernel samples collected from the middlemen's storages were found to be highly contaminated with A. flavus and aflatoxins. There were clearly less contaminations of A. flavus and aflatoxins in the maize ear than those in the kernels.