DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2020.v08i09.002

Pages: 269-277

Contamination of food and food products by aflatoxin has raised a lot of food safety concerns. This present study investigates the influence of garlic (Allium sativum) on the nutrient and aflatoxin contents, as well as associated toxigenic fungi in ‘kulikuli’ (groundnut cake). Samples of kulikuli (a common convenience food) from Nigeria were purchased from five markets in five different towns in North-West (NW) and North-Central (NC) Nigeria. Samples of this snack were also prepared in the Mycology Laboratory of the University of Ibadan. Kulikuli with garlic (BUIKG) and without garlic (BUIK) served as controls. Fungi associated with this food samples were isolated, characterized and subjected to percentage incidence test. Nutrient composition of kulikuli such as Crude Protein, Fibre, Fat, Moisture and Ash contents were determined. Aflatoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2) contents as well as pH were also determined in kulikuli using standard procedures. Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus had the highest incidence of 26.59% and 26.08% respectively. Aspergillus fumigatus (2.83%) had the least while BUIKG had no fungal incidence. Kulikuli samples from markets were significantly different (α0.05) in nutrients. Moisture contents ranged between 8.88 and 11.91%, ash (2.89-3.91%), crude protein (43.18-49.23%), fibre (2.99-3.20%) and fat (3.88-4.83%). BUIKG kulikuli had the highest crude protein (59.23%), fibre (4.55%) and pH (6.88). The BUIK had the highest fat (3.82%) and moisture content (12.61%), while both BUIK and BUIKG had highest ash content (4.84%). The market purchased kulikuli samples had the highest AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2 of 1.58, 2.72, 0.14 and 0.20 µg/kg respectively, while the laboratory prepared (BUIKG) had the least AFB1 (0.34µg/kg), AFB2 (0.37µg/kg), AFG1 (0.01µg/kg) and AFG2 (0.02µg/kg). It was observed that the introduction of garlic into kulikuli significantly reduced fungal contamination and aflatoxin level in the different samples. The implications