Laboratory of Biotechnology, Agriculture and Valuation of Biological Resources, Department of Biosciences, Felix Houphouet-Boigny University, Abidjan, Côte d´Ivoire
In sub-Saharan Africa in general and in Côte d’Ivoire in particular, post-harvest losses of agricultural products are still a major problem. It is with this in mind that this study was conducted to identify the fungal flora of cowpea seeds intended for human consumption and to evaluate the activity of neem leaf powder on this flora. Thus, four batches of cowpea were purchased in the three main markets of Korhogo. At T = 0 week, nine Petri dishes with Dichloran Rose Bengal Chloramphenicol were inoculated with the batch of untreated cowpea seeds. Each Petri dish was then incubated at 30 ° C for five days. We also proceeded in the same way, with the seeds treated at a rate of one culture per week for 21 days. At T = 5 days, three fungi were isolated and identified at varying percentages of occurrence: Aspergillus flavus (34.79%), Aspergillus niger (32.95%) and Rhizopus solinifer (6.79%). The evaluation of neem leaf powder showed its ability to inhibit the fungal growth of pathogens isolated from cowpea seeds. The leaf powder therefore has properties that can be used for the conservation of cowpea seeds.
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