The Department of life sciences at the Faculty of Science – University of Mosul, on Monday, August 17, 2026, discussed a master’s thesis tagged ” inhibition of the growth of fungi isolated from food and producing more than one type of mycotoxin ” by master’s student Abdul Rahman Ziad Tariq Al-Jawari from the specialty (Botany) . The letter dealt with the assessment of the extent of contamination by fungi and their toxins for 46 samples of common food oils in the city of Mosul (olive, sunflower, corn), and testing natural biological means to limit their growth and inhibit their production of toxins. The study aimed at protecting food security from biological pollutants, as it proved for the first time internationally the production of aflatoxins by six fungal isolates (Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus reptans, Chaetomium globosum, Penicillium confertum, Pseudopithomyces sacchari, Trichoderma viride), and two new isolates were recorded in the global gene bank (NCBI) with the identification number pz311401 for the fungus pseudopithomyces sacchari and Pz311402 for the fungus Chaetomium globosum. The results showed that all the tested oil samples were contaminated with Aflatoxins and at levels exceeding the internationally permissible limits in most samples, with the diagnosis of fungi producing cyclopiazonic acid poison. In the aspect of treatment and Prevention, the results proved that the use of turmeric oil at a concentration of 1% completely inhibited the production of aflatoxin for the fungus Pseudopithomyces sacchari, which supports the possibility of using it as a natural and safe preservative to protect vegetable oils during canning and storage from fungal contamination and accompanying toxins. The discussion Committee was chaired by Prof. Dr. Faten Nouri Abdul Hussein, and the members were: assistant professor Dr. Anfal Moayed Jalaluddin Sulaiman, teacher Dr. Ali Abdul Ali Hassan, and under the supervision and membership of Prof. Dr. Maha Akram Muhammad Ali Ahmed. We wish our dear students continued excellence and success in their scientific career.

Government information and Communication Division

Monday, August 17, 2026