Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

DIVERSITY OF FUNGI ASSOCIATED WITH ONION (ALLIUM CEPA) AND GINGER (ZINGIBER OFFICINALE) PRODUCED FROM KARNATAKA, INDIA

Sumalatha P., Sreenivasa M.Y. and P.K. Maheshwar

Abstract

A mycological survey was conducted in Allium cepa (Onion) and Zingiber officinale (Ginger) samples collected from different regions of Karnataka state. The analysis revealed the occurrence of diverse group of fungi including Fusarium verticililoides, F. oxysporum, F. solani F. equiseti, A. flavus, A. niger, P. citrinum, Trichoderma, Rhizopus, and curvularia in Ginger samples. Onion samples associated with Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, P.citrinum, Rhizopus, Trichoderma, and Cladosporium. Highest frequency of Fusarium (78.9%) in Ginger and Aspergillus niger (89.5%) in Onion was recorded. Further toxigenic fungi like Fusarium species and Aspergillus flavus were subjected to molecular characterization. Fusarium isolates were confirmed by PCR amplification using ITS1 and ITS4 primers. As the data represented toxigenic fungal species, DNA sequencing and phylogenetic tree was constructed to know authenticity of toxigenic fungi. The present data represents the occurrence of toxigenic fungi in Ginger and Onion which may cause serious health hazards upon consumption of the contaminated vegetables.