Effect of Standard and Nano-Urea on the Inhibition of the Fungus Aspergillus flavus Growth and Reduction of Aflatoxin B1 Production in the Laboratory
A.H. Hussein1* and H.Z. Hussein2
(1) General Seed Company Between the Two Rivers, Ministry of Agriculture, Baghdad, Iraq; (2) Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Baghdad, Iraq. *Email of corresponding author: alia_al_ramahi@yahoo.com
Received: 4/8/2022; Accepted: 19/7/2023
https://doi.org/10.22268/AJPP-001235
Abstract
The results of the study showed that the standard and nano urea at concentrations 1, 2, and 3% inhibited the growth of Aspergillus flavus on PDA medium by 54.90, 72.55 and 100% for normal urea, and 60.78, 100 and 100% for nano urea, respectively, compared with normal growth in the control treatment. The results obtained also showed that adding the most effective concentrations of normal and nano urea to corn kernels with A. flavus and stored for 30 days led to the inhibition of Aspergillus flavus growth and reduced aflatoxin production by 73.22 and 78.30%, respectively as compared to the control treatment. In addition, results showed that adding regular urea at a concentration of 3% and nano urea at a concentration of 2% to maize grains contaminated with AFB1 and stored for 30 days led to the reduction of aflatoxin B1 produced by A. flavus by 78.74 and 83.36%, respectively, compared to the control treatment.
Keywords
Maize, reduction ratio, Inhibition ratio, nanotechnology, HPLC.