EFFICACY OF HYDROCARBONS AGAINST SOYBEAN SEED-BORNE FUNGI AND AFLATOXIN PRODUCTION

Three hydrocarbons cyclohexane, kerosene and xylene were evaluated for their effectiveness to reduce soybean seed-borne fungi and to inhibit aflatoxin production by a toxigenic Aspergillus flavus when grown eit her on soybean seeds at concentrations 1.5 and 10% or YES broth at con centrations 0.2, 1.0 and 5.0%. All hydrocarbon treatments significantl y reduced the total count of soybean fungi as well as A. flavus and A. niger after 1 week of seed treatment. This effect persisted till the end of the experiment (8 weeks) with both cyclohexane and kerosene but disappeared with xylene. Aflatoxin production by A. flavus in both YE S broth and soybean seed was completely inhibited at concentrations 5 and 10%, respectively of all hydrocarbons used.