Abstract:
Maize serves as a staple food in many Sub-Sahara African (SSA) Countries. It is mostly
susceptible to mycotoxins including aflatoxin and fumonisin contamination.
Fumonisins are produced by the Fusarium species, predominantly Fusarium
verticillioides. Fumonisins’ health hazards are documented in many parts of the world.
However, few studies exist on fumonisin contamination in maize locally. The presence
of Fusarium species and the associated fumonisin contamination of maize grown in
Rift Valley and Lower Eastern regions of Kenya were assessed. Maize samples were
collected from randomly selected households in three Counties from each of the two
regions. Isolation and characterization of Fusarium species was done using Daniel et
al., (2011) protocol. Envrologix Quick Tox Kit was used to quantify fumonisin levels.
Aspergillus species was the most prevalent fungi species isolated (50.3%) followed by
Fusarium species (39.3%) with F. verticillioides accounting for 80.8% of all Fusarium
spp. Of the 200 samples analyzed, 133 (65.5%) had fumonisin levels below the level of
detection (< 0.1 ppm), 63 (31.5%) had fumonisin level of between 0.1 ppm- 4.0 ppm
and 4 (2.0%) sample had fumonisin levels of more than 4.0 ppm. Lower Eastern
Region had higher proportion of samples with detectable fumonisin levels compared to
Rift Valley Region (55.4% vs 11.1%). In conclusion Fusarium verticillioides commonly
associated with fumonisin contamination of maize was a common fungus isolated in the
study regions. It also showed that some of the maize samples consumed by the
respondents have fumonisin levels that are above the internationally accepted levels.
These results suggest that people are likely to be exposed to fumonisins that has been
associated with adverse health hazards
