Association between aflatoxin contamination and drought tolerance traits in peanut

The current study investigates the association between drought tolerance traits and aflatoxin contamination in peanut grown under long-term drought. Two field experiments were conducted at Khon Kaen University, Thailand using a split–split plot design with three drought stress levels as main plots, 11 genotypes as sub-plots, and two soil inoculations of Aspergillus flavus treatments as sub-sub-plots. The effects of temperature, soil moisture and A. flavus population on kernel colonization and aflatoxin contamination, and drought tolerance traits viz. specific leaf area (SLA) and root length density (RLD) were measured. The results demonstrated that elevated soil temperatures and reduced soil moisture, favored aflatoxin production. Drought in combination with higher levels of A. flavus inoculum load in the soil resulted in an increase in the fungal populations in the soil which in turn resulted in increased kernel colonization and subsequent aflatoxin contamination. A combination of SLA and RLD, and kernel colonization had a significant influence on aflatoxin contamination under drought conditions in both seasons (r = 0.73** and 0.76**). The results revealed that drought tolerance traits (SLA and RLD) could be contributing to resistance to aflatoxin contamination suggesting that a combination of SLA, RLD and kernel colonization could be used as selection criteria in selecting parents for aflatoxin resistance.