INVESTIGATION OF MYCOFLORA ASSOCIATED WITH STORED RICE IN ZHEJIANG PROVINCE, CHINA

The mycoflora of stored rice was determined for 63 paddy grains samples and 32 polished rice samples collected from 18 counties of Zhejiang Province in 1980—1981. Forty eight species belonging to 17 genera of fungi were isolated and identified, including 5 species of Mucorales, 18 spp. of Aspergillus, 10 spp. of Penicillium, 4 spp. of Fusarium and other 11 species of Hyphomyeetes. No notable differences could be found both in species and number of the mycoflora associated with the stored rice in different regions of the Province. When paddy grains were milled to polished rice, the kinds and numbers of fungi borne on the grains and percentage of infected kernels declined markedly. Samples from freshly harvested paddy grains showed the type of mycoflora composed of such field fungi as Alternaria, Curvularia, Cladosporium, Nigrospora etc.. When samples from paddy grains stored for one to four months were examined, it could be found that the total numbers of various kinds of fungi isolated from the grains and percentage of the infected kernels were at their maximum as a result of invasion by storage fungi. As to samples from paddy grains stored for one year or more, however, storage fungi predominated in mycoflora of the grains, and the total numbers of various kinds of fungi isolated and percentage of the infected kernels sharply declined. The examination showed that the kinds and numbers of fungi isolated from grains were similar between indica rice and japonica rice under similar conditions.