Effect of Irradiation on Aflatoxin Content and Seed Viability of Arachis hypogea L

Accepted: 21/10/2014 Abstract Aflatoxins are toxic metabolites of fungi mainly Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus, which cause immune system suppression, liver cancer or even death. In present study different doses of gamma irradiation were used to reduce aflatoxin content in peanut, and the effect of irradiation on shelf life and seed viability was evaluated. The irradiation dose for total reduction of aflatoxins was optimized. Results obtained in this study indicate that a dose of 3 and 5 kGy reduced total background counts of fungi from 9.5±1.2x10cfu/g to 20.0±5.0 and 4.0±1.0 cfu/g respectively and increased the shelf life of peanut by 2 months. Germination percentage and root and shoot length were measured to determine the effects of various irradiation doses on the peanut seed germination. There was marked reduction in germination percentage at 1.0 kGy, whereas at 3 kGy dose the peanut seeds completely lost their viability. Root and shoot lengths were found more sensitive to the gamma irradiation than the germination percentages.