Cereal Chem 58:40 - 42.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Aspergillus flavus Group, Aflatoxin, and Bright Greenish Yellow Fluorescence in Insect- Damaged Corn in Georgia.

D. M. Wilson, N. W. Widstrom, L. R. Marti, and B. D. Evans. Copyright 1981 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Three commercial hybrids of corn (Zea mays) were planted at Tifton, GA, in 1975 and two in 1976. Half the plots were inoculated by spraying a conidial suspension of Aspergillus flavus on the silks at four, six, and eight days after full silk. Half the plots were infested with larvae of Heliothis zea, a corn earworm. Neither infestation nor inoculation had affected insect damage, A. flavus group recovery, bright greenish yellow fluorescence, or aflatoxin contamination at 56 days after full silk in either year; however, inoculated ears had a higher incidence of A. flavus at earlier dates in 1975. Species of the A. flavus group were recovered from 91-100% of the unsterilized test ears at 56 days after full silk across all treatments. Perhaps, the inoculation effect was not seen because of high background levels of natural A. flavus group invasion of the ears. The incidence of the A. flavus group increased with time and maturity of the corn. Aflatoxin levels were significantly different among hybrids in 1975 but not in 1976.