Biodiversity of Species and Their Mycotoxin Production Potential in Dry Meat.

This study aimed to examine fungi diversity in dried beef meat sold in Ekiti State, characterize the isolated fungi, and determine the aflatoxin-producing ability of the fungi in the samples. Dried beef meat was collected from different markets in Ekiti State and screened for the presence of filamentous fungi using molecular methods. Samples were cultured aseptically on potato dextrose agar (PDA) for fungi isolation, and molecular identification was performed using DNA extraction, Polymerase chain Reaction (PCR), ITS-1/ITS-4 primer pair, and nucleotide sequencing. The results obtained indicated a range of filamentous fungi genera including , , , , , , and other fungi species contaminating the dried meat at (43%), (42%), (3%), (2%), (2%), (1%), and (7%), respectively. High incidences were recorded for , , and in most of the screened samples. accounted for (24.7%) of all the species isolated with the presence of the gene needed for aflatoxin production. The occurrences of these filamentous fungal species pose a cause for concern, as most of these fungal species are known producers of certain toxic substances. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis showed a high similarity index score, which indicated a good relationship between isolated Species and the closely related strains from GenBank, isolated from different sources and countries. The implication of this study is that consumer health may be at risk through exposure to contaminated dried meat.