
Friendly Farm-Based Fungi Protect Peanuts By Jill Lee October 21, 1998A way to use helpful fungi to reduce
aflatoxin contamination of peanuts--while the crop is still on the farm--has
been discovered by U.S. Department of
Agriculture scientists here. Mold strains of Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus often
produce aflatoxin and CPA, two potential food contaminants. But scientists at
USDA's Agricultural Research Servicefound benign strains of these molds that produce neither compound. Putting good molds in the soil takes up fungal "parking spaces"
that could be used by malevolent molds, according to the scientists, with ARS'
National Peanut Research
Laboratory in Dawson. The 'good' mold mix is combined with a delivery system that offers
protection for crops in the field before harvest, said laboratory
director Richard J. Cole. ARS has applied for patent protection on the mold mixture, which is
available for licensing. The Food and Drug Administration has
mandated that aflatoxin content in peanut products must be less than 20 parts
per billion. One part per billion is equal to a drop of water in a
21,700-gallon swimming pool. International aflatoxin levels are set much lower,
typically with a range of 0 to 4 parts per billion. At the 1987 National Peanut Council Quality Task Force, industry leaders
identified aflatoxin contamination as their number one problem. The U.S. peanut
industry has set a goal to ensure aflatoxin-free peanuts by the year 2000. Scientific contact: Richard Cole, director, ARS National Peanut Research
Laboratory, Dawson, Ga., phone (912) 995-7404, fax (912) 995-7416,
[email protected] Story contacts Peanut Research U.S. Department of Agriculture | |