Mycotoxin contamination of stored maize in Kenya

In Kenya, maize is a staple food and is stored after harvest as a source of food and for sale. From the stored maize, the surplus from that meant for food is sold by some farmers to earn income. The quality of the maize in store depends on the storage facility. Poorly constructed and unmaintained structures may allow leakage of water and entry by rodents and insects which may mechanically damage the maize by nibbling and holing respectively, thus predisposing the grains to fungal infection. Some of these fungi can contaminate the maize with mycotoxins. The storage fungi on maize in Kenya and the probable mycotoxin their produce were reviewed for the period of 2000 to 2015 (15-years). This review established that the most frequently isolated maize storage fungi belonged to the genera Aspergillus followed by Fusarium and lastly Penicillium. Further it was established that the most frequently reported mycotoxin was aflatoxin which was most prevalent in the Eastern region of Kenya. Fumonisin was also reported but had the highest occurrence in the Western region. The variation in the occurrence of these toxins could be due the differences in the agro ecological zones of the regions. It was further noted that although records indicated that other species of storage fungi were present in maize their respective mycotoxins were not established. Hence it is mandatory to carry out a complete census of storage fungi of maize in Kenya and establish whether these fungi produce the expected respective mycotoxins. This is paramount because of the health implications associated with the mycotoxin ingestion.