Mycoflora of stored rice in Portugal

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a staple food for over half of the world’s population and is grown on approximately 146 million hectares, more than 10 percent of the total available land. In the tropics, rice is the primary source of human nutrition, and is one of the cheapest sources of food energy and protein. In Portugal, rice is grown on 18,500 hectares and the average per capita consumption is the highest in Europe, around 15 kg per year per person. In the work we have collected rice samples from different origins within Portugal and these samples were analysed for fungal infection. Several fungi were isolated, mainly Aspergillus sp., Penicillium sp., Fusarium sp., Alternaria sp. and Trichothecium sp. Some of them are known to be mycotoxin producers. This information about fungal mycoflora is essential to describe the status quo and to establish programs to prevent mycotoxin formation if necessary. Fungus–feeding insects were also collected and identified: Ashverus advena, Coninomus spp., Cryptophagus spp., Typhae stercorea and Litargus balteatus.