Abstract
The incidence of fungal contamination in wheat grains in Saudi Arabia market was frequently studied; however, the potential presence of Zearalenone was not examined thoroughly. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to explore the occurrence of Zearalenone and the fungal flora in wheat samples and to correlate between the detected Zearalenone level and the level of fungal contamination as well as the wheat production source. 30 samples were collected from food stores and mills located at Jeddah. Fungal flora was determined using PDA media and Zearalenone concentrations were determined using HPLC method. Out of the 30 collected samples only 18 samples (60%) showed fungal contamination that belongs to six genera (Aspergillus, Penicillium, Alternaria, Emericella, Eurotium and Acremonium). Aspergillus species were the most dominant species in the infected samples where they represented 70.33% of the total infected species. Zearalenone was detected in 40% of the total samples. Only 25% of the local samples were positive to Zearalenone with a maximum level that reached 4,000 mu g.kg(-1). The percentage of positive samples were higher in the imported wheat samples (50%), while Zearalenone maximum level reached 10,000 mu g.kg(-1) and the overall mean was 1663 mu g.kg(-1) compared to the local samples.