2025/01/01 by Papa Ngore Sarr Sadio, Ngore Sarr Sadio, Papa, Fatou Ndoye +3
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Peanut Plant Research Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.17180/ciag-2025-vol99-art07
In Senegal, in addition to contributing significantly to human and animal nutrition, peanuts represent an important source of income for the population and for export. The practice of drying by exposing the pods to the ground contributes to the vulnerability of the pods and grains to rain and humidity, factors that favor the development of fungi. Molds of the genus Aspergillus (A. flavus and A. niger) produce aflatoxins that can contaminate peanut seeds before, during or after harvest. Contamination of peanut crops by aflatoxins has significant adverse consequences on human and animal health, including liver cancers, due to chronic poisoning. This article reviews the diagnosis of peanut post-harvest operations. These are marked by two key stages: drying and storage. The latter remain important due to the constraints identified by actors in the sector, in particular aflatoxin. The aim is an analysis of the knowledge and practices of peanut drying and storage techniques in the Senegal Peanut Basin. The results obtained thanks to a participatory approach involving the qualitative method show the existence of various practices based on endogenous popular knowledge and technoscientific knowledge in a context of social change in rural communities. The data also show the importance of social networks in the construction of this practical and empirical knowledge.