ASSOCIATION OF AFLATOXIN CONTAMINATION AND ROOT TRAITS OF PEANUT GENOTYPESUNDER TERMINAL DROUGHT

Aspergillus flavus colonization and aflatoxin contamination in peanut is one of the major problems of peanut production. The aflatoxin is carcinogenic and harmful to consumers. Drought resistant variety had low A. flavus infection and low aflatoxin contamination. The information on the association of root parameters and aflatoxin contamination in the end season drought is important for improvement of peanut cultivars for drought prone environments and reduction in pre-harvest aflatoxin contamination. This work aimed to investigate the association of root parameters and aflatoxin contamination of peanut in end of season drought. The split plot design was set up in the field. The two main plots were consisting of two water levels (field capacity (FC) and 1/3 available water (1/3 AW) from the R7 growth stage (R7) through harvest) and five subplots including five peanut varieties (ICGV 98308, ICGV 98324, ICGV 98348, Tainan 9 and Tifton 8). Data were recorded for Aspergillus flavus colonization, aflatoxin contamination, percent root length density, root surface, root diameter and root volume in the deeper soil layer (30-90 cm) at harvest. ICGV 98348 and ICGV 98324 were the best varieties for low aflatoxin contamination, low A. flavus colonization, and high roots traits (percent root length density, root surface, root diameter and root volume). Our studies demonstrated that roots traits may be important traits related to aflatoxin contamination and confirmed that colonization is related to aflatoxin contamination. Root traits may be useful alternative selection criteria for reduced aflatoxin contamination under terminal drought.