Abstract

The influence of post-harvest drying practices of groundnut followed by the farmers in Tamil Nadu in relation to the development of mycoflora and aflatoxins has been studied. Samples from six farm holdings harvested under different weather conditions were studiod for per cent misture, mature/immature pod ratio, fungal flora and aflatoxin content. The moisture content of fresh pods ranged from 22-36%. The per cent incidence of fungi ranged from 4-34% depending upon the drying conditions and included toxigenic Aspargilli, Penicillio spp. and various field fungi. Aflatoxin Bi in detected from the 3rd day after stripping of the pods and the contents were in the range of 40-95 µg/kg and 75-215 µg/kg in the contaminated shells and kernels respectively. The immature and shrivelled podo constituted about 20-465 and were contaminated with the fungi 2-3 fold heavily than the matured pods.

Keywords: Groundnut, Post-Harvest practices, Aflatoxin.