© 2018, IJSRBS All Rights Reserved 32 International Journal of Scientific Research in _______________________________ Research Paper . Biological Sciences Vol.5, Issue.3, pp. 32-35, June (2018) E-ISSN: 2347-7520 Emerging fungal contaminants isolated and identified from raw fennel seeds Chinju Merin Abraham 1* , Tincy Mary Thomas 2 1 Department of Botany, Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta, India 2 Department of Botany, Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta, India *Corresponding Author: First author- chinjujoby@gmail.com, Tel.:+91-9846129284 Available online at: www.isroset.org Received: 21/May/2018, Revised: 30/May/2018, Accepted: 17/Jun/2018, Online: 30/Jun/ 2018 Abstract - The present investigation entitled “Emerging fungal contaminants isolated and identified from raw fennel seeds” recorded the diversity of surface contaminant fungi from 144 fennel seeds of different A/C and non-A/C hotels of town area of Pathanamthitta district of Kerala, which were cultured on PDA medium. All fungal species were identified on the basis of their morphological and microscopic characteristics and it includes Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus, Chrysonilia sitophila, Mucor sp., Rhizopus sp., Cercospora sp. and Cylindrocarpon sp. The study revealed its colonization frequency, counted the fungal colony numbers, determined the percentage of different fungal isolates and finally compared the A/C and non-A/C seed contaminants. And from the study, it was clear that samples from non-A/C hotels shows maximum fungal growth than A/C hotels. These emerging fungal contaminants can cause serious pathogenic conditions such as aspergillosis, zygomycosis, occupational asthma etc. Keywords – Fungal contaminants, Fennel seeds, Pathanamthitta, PDA medium, Colonization frequency, Aspergillosis 1. INTRODUCTION The contamination of spices by fungus is a serious issue being faced nowadays. Many spices are traditional herbs and medicinal indigenous ingredients since a long time, herbal medicines have been used in the management of several diseases [1]. Fennel seed is a common south-Indian spice that has serious issues in relation with its fungal contamination. Fennel plants are biennial or perennial aromatic herbs with anticancerous property [2, 3]. Many species of fungi are responsible for the contamination of the fennel crops before harvest or during storage by the production of aflatoxin [4]. Aflatoxins are acutely toxic, immunosuppressive, mutagenic, teratogenic and carcinogenic compounds. Spices on storage are heavily contaminated with the xerophilic storage moulds and bacteria [5]. The most frequent fungal contaminant of spices is the species from Aspergillus and Penicillium [6]. Although spices are present in foods in small amounts, they are recognized as important carriers of microbial contamination mainly because of the conditions in which they were grown, harvested and processed [7]. Eating contaminated raw spices may lead to the intake of many mycotoxins [8]. It is a common practice, particularly in the South-Indian culture to chew raw fennel seeds after meals and these spices being the part of our Indian food culture and also it aids in digestion. It is necessary to create awareness to public about the improper handling of fennel seeds that leads these seeds as a host for several pathogenic organisms. Thus the present work focuses on the harmfulness on consuming contaminated raw fennel seeds. From the colonization frequency and other datas analysed, it was clear that all the seeds collected were heavily contaminated by the fungal pathogens. The mycotoxins produced by these pathogens can cause serious ill-effects like aspergillosis, zygomycosis, occupational asthma, mucormycosis etc. II .MATERIALS AND METHODS Plant material- Raw seeds of Foeniculum vulgare Miller [9] Systematic position Kingdom: Plantae Division : Angiospermae Class : Dicotyledoneae Order : Umbellales Family : Apiaceae Collection of seeds sample: For the present investigation, raw fennel seed samples were collected from six different A/C and non-A/C hotels of town area of Pathanamthitta district, uniformly during the month of March-April 2017. Each sample were collected in a separate sterile polythene bags and brought to the laboratory for further studies.