Hojjatollah Shokri - Associate professor, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Amol University of Special Modern Technologies, Amol, Iran

The purpose of this study was to investigate the mycoflora of 32 feed samples representing 10 types of animal feed ingredients, which included corn seed, corn silage, cottonseed meal, dried bread, barely, straw, hay, bran, mixed-feed, and concentrate, in Ghom province, Iran during a one-year study. The most dominant species isolated of animal feed samples belonged to the genera Aspergillus (56%), Mucor (17%), Penicillium (15%), Fusarium (6%), Cladosporium (2%), and yeast (4%). From Aspergillus genus, three species were identified and Aspergillus flavus was the most frequent (48%). The highest fungi were detected from barely (17.6%). In all samples, the toxigenic (Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium) and non-toxigenic fungi were prevailed in 67% and 33%, respectively, representing significant difference between two groups (P<0.05). Regarding to presence of highly toxigenic fungi on the feeds, it should be considered to plan a program for identifying fungi in order to hygienic control of fungi on feeds into the future.

Mycoflora, animal feeds, toxigenic fungi, Aspergillus flavus