Aflatoxins are the potential carcinogens produced as secondary metabolites by Aspergillus flavus. They have the ability to contaminate large number of food which ultimately affect the human population. Malt extract agar was selected for the growth of control stains of fungus. The aim of the study was to develop a reliable and quick method for the detection of aflatoxin producing strains in peanuts by using molecular approaches. Total 80 samples of infected peanuts were collected from four different cities of Punjab and checked for their aflatoxin contamination. For aflatoxin detection, three target genes nor1, ver1 and aflR were selected which was involved in the aflatoxin biosynthesis. In all examined cases, 24 out of 80 (30%) samples successfully amplified all three genes indicating aflatoxigenic activity. Discrimination between aflatoxigenic and non-aflatoxigenic strains were also determined on the basis of amplification of these three target DNA fragments. In this study, it was also demonstrated that only specific strains were able to produce the aflatoxin contamination in peanuts.

Consumption of vegetables, having a significant place in nutrition of humankind, is increasing day by day as their health-improving effects have been better understood nowadays. For such vegetables, certain criteria such as organic production, season production, regional production etc. are taken into consideration. The objective of this study is to research about existence of Bacillus cereus and Salmonella spp. in the locally-grown vegetables offered in local bazaars. Parsley, lettuce, spinach, turnip, carrot, chard, Brussels sprouts and radish produced in the province of Giresun were used in the study. Bacillus cereus and Salmonella spp. analyses were carried out in line with International Organization for Standardization quality standards. Among 89 vegetable samples analyses, Salmonella spp. and B. cereus were not detected in all and 5 of the samples respectively (