ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF FUNGI ASSOCIATED WITH COMMONLY CONSUMED BEAN SEEDS SOLD IN OPEN MARKETS OF OREDO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BENIN CITY, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

Home saved bean (Phaseolusvulgaris L.) also known as common bean is the most important legume crop for human consumption, which provides cheap source of dietary protein for humans worldwide. It is commonly consumed for its delicacy, high protein content and as a source of certain antioxidants, minerals and polyphenols. However, storage fungi in common bean has led to its spoilage, decreases in quality and also resulted to a decrease in the germination of the common bean seeds. This research is aimed at identifying fungi associated with P.vulgaris. The bean samples for the analysis were collected in sterile clear seal bags and were immediately transported in a clean air tight food flask to the laboratory for mycological analyses. Serial dilution of the bean samples was carried out. Aliquots of 0.1ml from10-1,10-3 and 10-5 dilution for each beans samples were plated in Potato Dextrose agar amended with antibacterial agent. The plates were incubated for 5–7 days at 28oC. The cultures were examined for growth using the morphological and cultural characteristic. Six fungi genera were isolated namely Aspergillus, Mucor, Penicillum, Saccharomyces, Cladosporium and Trichoderma. The total estimated heterotrophic fungi counts in colony forming units per gram (cfu/gm) of the samples ranged from 1.6x1050.3–8.1x1040.9. Fungi percentage frequency ranged from 4.4% - 14.4% while the fungi frequency ranged from 3–10 in all samples.The fungi diversity ranged from 3–5 for each sample while the percentage diversity ranges from 50–83.3%.The safety of these legumes (beans) from fungi during storage is a basic challenge that needs to be tackled to protect human health, as legumes are one of the basic sources of protein, hence there is need for proper and standard storage system, proper handling techniques so as to prevent invasion of legumes by fungi