11 www.jinagri.com Pakdaman and Farkhari, 2021 Edited by Gurunathan Selvakumar, SRM College of Agricultural Sciences, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, India. Received: 19 January 2021 Accepted: 04 February 2021 Published: 31 March 2021 *Correspondence Babak Pakdaman Sardrood bpakdaman@yahoo.com; bpakda man @asn rukh.ac.i r Journal of Inn ovative A gricultu re: 8 (1 ) : 11-15, 2 021 DOI: 10 .374 46/jinag ri/rsa/ 8.1.2 021. 11 -15 Research paper Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn.) seed fungi in a sub-tropical district Babak Pakdaman Sardrood *1 , Mohammad Farkhari 2 1 Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Agricultural Scienc es and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, Mollasani, Khuzestan, Iran. O RCID identifier: 0000-0002-7099-101X 2 Department of Plant Production and G enetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Agricultural Scienc es and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, Mollasani, Khuzestan, Iran. . O RCID identifier: 0000- 0001 -721 7-4 50X. Milk thistle, Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn., is known as an edible and medicinal plant applied in traditional medicine, and its seed is used in the production of medicines against liver hyperglycemia. Seed-born fungi may cause plant diseases and produce mycotoxins that are dangerous for animal and human health. Hence, the external and internal fungal infection of milk thistle seeds from six genotypes from six different geographic areas were studied through a deep-freeze blotter test. Alternaria alternata was the most prevalent fungus. Other seed-borne fungi belonging to the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, and Rhizopus were also observed. In addition, highly meaningful differences in the frequency of A. alternata were found among seed samples. These findings are not only important in Plant Pathology and Plant Breeding but also in Pharmacy. Key words: Alternaria, cardus, mycotoxin, seedborne INTRODUCTION The medicinal plant, milk thistle (Astraceae: Silybum marianum Gaertn.) is currently grown in central Europe, East Asia (China), Australia, North America (the United States), as well as in South America (Das et al. 2008; Machowicz-Stefaniak and Zimowska 2000). The plant seed is the source of flavolignans (Greenlee et al., 2007) applied in medicine production against type II diabetes (Huseini et al., 2006), liver hepatitis viruses and toxins (Fehr, 2007). A narrative review on the clinical efficacy of S. marianum seed extract in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has recently been published, where the anti-diabetic effect of silymarin in four clinical trials in single formula and in one trial in combination with nettle and boswellia gum resin has been reviewed (Mohammadi et al., 2020). Furthermore, the efficacy of silymarin and silybin in the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in eleven clinical trials as single formula or in combination with phosphatidylcholine, simvastatin and vitamin E has been reviewed (Mohammadi et al., 2020). The beneficial effect of silymarin is not restricted to its hepatoprotective activity and comprehends anticancer, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, neuroprotective as well as lactogenic effects (Valkova et al., 2020). Out from all plant-based dietary supplements tested, those based on milk thistle were of the highest concentrations of mycotoxins up to 37 mg kg -1 Seed (Veprikova et al., 2015). Alternariol-methyl-ether, alternariol, beauvericin, deoxynivalenol, enniatinA, enniatin A1, enniatin B, enniatin B1, HT-2 toxin, T-2 toxin, tentoxin, and zearalenol are known as the most important mycotoxins in milk thistle-based dietary supplements (Pickova et al., 2020).With an eye to the medicinal importance of milk thistle, the present research was conducted (i) to identify potentially important seed-borne fungi of milk thistle, (ii) to identify seed-borne mycotoxigenic fungi on and in the seed of milk thistle, and (iii) to study the fungal infection/ contamination rate of geographically different seed samples which can lead to the clues relevant in plant breeding (Li et al., 2011; Pagán and Garcíá-Arenal, 2018; Villarroel-Zeballos et al., 2012). MATERIALS AND METHODS Six seed samples of milk thistle from geographically distinct origins were chosen for this research. The seeds were received from Research Institute of Forests and Rangeland and were gathered after primary