Vol. 2, Issue 5, Part C (2016)

Abstract
The study was carried out to identify the common molds growing in the livestock feeds in Kerala. A total of 14 feed samples were analyzed for detecting the mycoflora.6 predominant fungus like Pencillium spp, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus, Mucor spp, Rhizopus spp and Fusarium spp were isolated. Among them Penicillium spp was the most prevalent fungi with an isolation frequency of 32%. Mycotoxin are secondary metabolites produced by fungi, which cause health hazards to animals and human beings. Mycotoxins are considered hazardous and there is a need for accurate detection of each toxin. Several screening methods for direct visual determination of mycotoxin production have been reported. These methods rely on using different types of coconut culture media, methylated -cyclodextrin and ammonium hydroxide vapour tests. However our results showed that use of these techniques were not sufficiently sensitive for all Aspergillus species, Fusarium species and suggested a simple thin layer chromatography (TLC) as a sensitive and reliable technique for detection of Mycotoxin.