FUNGAL CONTAMINATION STUDY IN PEANUT HARVEST (Arachis hypogaea L).
The problems with the cultivation of peanuts occur from harvest to storage pods of grain, and the harvest of most crops is done in the rainy season, which makes the drying of these pods, which when wetted are vulnerable to aflatoxigenic fungi. The aim of this study was to assess the fungal contamination and humidity of the pods of beans, from the stage of inception to the storage of dry pods in improver. Samples were collected lots of peanut IAC Runner 886 from areas 100 km equidistant Beneficiadora industry, the harvest of 2011/2012 and 2012/2013, from the start until the third month of storage the moisture, forming unit colony of fungi (CFU / g). It was observed that the highest values of moisture in the pods of beans are in the stage of start up, on average 59.8% and after this step is necessary to dry in the sun where the average humidity probe was 21.6%, which is higher than the rates established by the applicable law, which is needed in immediate artificial drying below 10%. Most fungal contamination was 5.9 x 106 CFU / g, the step before the harvester due to exposure of the pods in the sun for about three days at room temperature, subject rains that provide the ideal conditions for fungal infestation. Thus, this work contributes as a source of research for the development of future studies of peanut production chain.