Isolation and Identification of Fungi from Some Selected Vegetables in Kankara Local Government Area, Katsina State

Abstract

Samples of vegetables (infected and healthy) were investigated in this study to identify and isolate fungal species growing present. The vegetables are Tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum), Pepper (Capsicum annum), Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and Onion (Allium cepa) which were collected from local farms around Kankara local government area. Potato dextrose agar (PDA) was used for isolation of the fungi and morphological features and fungal identification key were used to identify the isolated organisms. All the vegetables collected showed the presence of fungi. The fungi isolated are Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus stolonifer, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus parasiticus, Penicillium digitatum, Penicillium citrinum and Mucor spp. among all, Penicillium citrinum, Aspergillus niger, and Aspergillus parasiticus had the highest rate of occurrence followed by Penicillium digitatum and Aspergillus flavus while Mucor spp. and Rhizopus stolonifer were the least.