Postharvest diseases of grains and

legumes

Postharvest diseases grains and

legumes

Tropical grain crops

Wet tropics with little or no dry season
rice
maize

Drier tropics with distinct dry season

sorghum
millet
groundnut

Subtropics, high elevations

wheat

Postharvest diseases grains and

legumes

Grain moulds in the tropics

Grain moulds are fungi that grow on or in
seeds
Field fungi

request a moisture content in equilibrium with

relative humidities of 90-100%
specialized pathogens that invade developing or
mature grains, which may or may not cause
visible damage
unspecialized highly pathogenic fungi that
invade developing grain
unspecialized primarily saprophytic fungi that
invade moist mature
grain
Postharvest diseases grains and
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legumes

 Storage fungi
request a moisture content in equilibrium with
relative humidities of 70-90%
invade grain primarily during storage
mainly several species of Aspergillus and
Penicillium
all primarily saprophytic
may produce mycotoxins

Postharvest diseases grains and

legumes

Storage fungi
Effect on grains

kill and discolour grain embryos

reduce seed quality
change chemical composition
contaminate grains with mycotoxins
Most critical factor affecting development is
moisture
Control of storage fungi
maintenance of the grain at low moisture
content and/or temperature
protect from insect infestation
Postharvest diseases grains and
legumes

Field fungi
Maize
grown on a large scale in wet lowland and
highland tropics
cause cob rot, kernel discolouration, loss of
viability, mycotoxin contamination, subsequent
seedling blights
stalk rots, leaf damage, insect and bird damage
increase the problem of cob and kernel rot
drought stress and grain damage by insects
increase Aspergillus incidence in the field
Postharvest diseases grains and
legumes

 Rice

particularly important in lowland humid tropics

warm wet weather during flowering and grainfilling
developing and mature grains are vulnerable to
many fungi
cause grain discolouration, destruction, loss of
viability, mycotoxin contaminatin, seedling
mortality
several of the major rice pathogens are seedborne (blast, brown spot, bakanae)
Postharvest diseases grains and
legumes

 wheat
- unspecialized fungi cause black point
disease and head blight
- the specialized fungus Neovossia indica
causes karnal bunt; it transforms kerns
into black spore masses

Postharvest diseases grains and

legumes

 sorghum
- problems especially with improved cultivars
that flower and mature earlier in the season;
earlier flowering results in exposure of
developing grains to wet conditions
- fungi cause complete destruction of the grain,
severe grain discolouration, reduction in size
and weight, reduction in market value, reduction
in nutritional value, production of mycotoxins,
loss of seed viability and seedling mortality
Postharvest diseases grains and
legumes

 pearl millet
the most drought-resistant of the major tropical cereals
not likely to be exposed to prolonged wet weather after
flowering

groundnut
of particular importance in the semi-arid tropics
most serious problem is contamination of groundnut
seeds with aflatoxins produced by Aspergillus flavus
shells are commonly contaminated with fungi, but seeds
are usually free from infection at optimal time for
harvest; postharvest invasion of seeds occur if
environmental conditions do not favour rapid drying

Postharvest diseases grains and

legumes

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Aspergillus flavus on groundnut

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legumes

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 Pulses
cowpea, pigeon pea, chickpea, green gram, black
gram, field beans
vital sources of protein in developing countries
pods and seeds are susceptible to damage when
crops mature under humid conditions
pod-sucking and pod-boring insects are a major
problem

Postharvest diseases grains and

legumes

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 Control of field fungi

cultivar characteristics
traditional cultivars
photoperiod sensitivity
grain ripening in dry weather at the end of the rainy
season
susceptibility to insect damage
physical and chemical characteristics of the grain

cropping practices
Timely harvest

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legumes

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Seed deterioration
Fungal pathogens
Effect on seed germination: mainly storage
fungi
discolouration of seeds and abnormalities: field
and storage fungi
seed quality
carbohydrate degradation
protein degradation
lipid degradation

Contamination with mycotoxins

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legumes

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Mycotoxins

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legumes

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Important mycotoxin producers

Aspergillus and Penicillium

produce toxins mostly in stored seeds and hay

also produce toxins on commercially processed
foods and feets (meats, cheeses, spices)
infection of seeds usually takes place in the
field

Fusarium

produces toxins primarily on corn and other

grains
infection can occur in the field or after storage
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legumes

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Ergotism
Oldest known mycotoxicosis
caused by several toxic substances in the
sclerotia (ergots) of the ergot fungus
Claviceps
Claviceps can contaminate rye, barley,
sorghum, millet, wheat and wild grasses
symtomps:gangrene of body extremities;
hallucinations (cfr. LSD)
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legumes

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Claviceps

Postharvest diseases grains and

legumes

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Ergotism

Sint-Antonius

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legumes

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Aflatoxins
produced by Aspergillus flavus and several other
species of Aspergillus
produced in infected cereal seeds and most
legumes, mostly at nontoxic concentrations (about
50 ppb)
produced at high concentrations (up to 1000 ppb
or more) in peanuts, brazil nuts and other seeds or
nuts grown in warm and humid regions
can cause chronic or acute mycotoxicoses in
humans and domestic animals
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legumes

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Aspergillus flavus

Postharvest diseases grains and

legumes

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Fusarium toxins

Produced by several species of Fusarium

groups: zearalenones, trichothecenes, fumonisins
primarily produced in molded corn
Zearalenones
estrogenic syndrome in swine

Trichothecins

inactivity; degeneration of cells of the bone marrow,

lymph nodes and intestines; diarrhea; bleeding; and death
in swines, cows, chicks, and lambs

Fumonisins

neurotoxic disease of horses (blind staggers); pulmonary

edema in swine; esophageal cancer in humans
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legumes

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Fusarium on corn

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legumes

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Further reading
Christensen CM (1965) Deterioration of stored
grains by fungi. Annual Review of Phytopathology
3: 69-84
Williams RJ and McDonald D (1983) Grain molds in
the tropics: Problems and importance. Annual
Review of Phytopathology 21: 153-178

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