Natural occurrence of aflatoxins and ochratoxin a in corn and barley from mazandaran and golestan in north provinces of I. R. Iran

Validation of an UHPLC-MS/MS Method for Simultaneous Analysis of 11 Mycotoxins in Wheat Flour Using Immunoaffinity Column

This study focuses on optimization and validation of an Ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method for simultaneous analysis of 11mycotoxins: Aflatoxins (B₁, B₂, G₁, and G₂), Ochratoxin A, Deoxynivalenol, Fumonisins (B₁ and B₂), Zearalenone, T-2, and HT-2toxin, in wheat matrix. Sample extraction and cleanup procedure is based on a single extraction step using acetonitrile/water/acetic acid mixture (79.5/20/0.5 v/v/v) and rapid clean-up of samples were performed with the Myco6in1⁺ Immunoaffinity column. Electrospray ionization at positive mode was operated to the simultaneously analysis of selected mycotoxins in a single run time of 15 min. Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) mode was selected for quantification and detection of the mycotoxins. The analysis method was validated for selected mycotoxins at different spike levels (2-150 ngg^-1 for AFs, T-2, OTA; 20-1500 ngg^-1 for ZER, HT-2 toxin; and 100-1500 ngg^-1 for DON and FB₁+B₂) in wheat. Calibration curves were plotted based on the area of peak analyte in spike samples. Limits of detection (LOD) ranged from 0.7 to 33.3 ngg^-1 and limits of quantification (LOQ) ranged from 2 to 100 ngg^-1. Recovery values were between 70 and 120% for all the mycotoxins, except for AFG₂ (72-123%) and T-2 toxin (77-122%) with good repeatability. The recoveries and repeatabilities were in accordance with the criteria determined by European Union (EU) Recommendation 519/2014.

Aflatoxin M1 in human breast milk in Shahrekord, Iran and association with dietary factors

This survey was conducted to determine the occurrence and levels of aflatoxin M₁ (AFM₁) in 250 breast milk samples of lactating mothers, obtained from urban and rural regions of Shahrekord, Iran. Moreover, the association between AFM₁ occurrence levels and dietary factors was assessed. AFM₁ analysis was carried out using the competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique for screening and high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) for confirmatory purposes. The toxin was detected in 39 samples (15.6%), ranging from 11.1 to 39.3 ng/l, of which 8 samples (3.2%) had levels above the Iranian national standard limit (25 ng/l). AFM₁ occurrence and levels in breast milk samples obtained from rural regions were significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) than those obtained from urban ones. It might be due to the different dietary patterns in these regions. It was found that dietary habits with more tendencies to consume bread, rice and non-alcoholic beer beverage significantly increased (P ≤ 0.05) the risk of AFM₁ occurrence in breast milk. In addition, higher consumption of bread, olive and traditional cream significantly increased (P ≤ 0.05) the levels of AFM₁ in breast milk samples. Further investigations should be performed to determine more precisely the association between AFM₁ occurrence and dietary factors and also the risk of infant exposure to this mycotoxin.

Ultrasensitive and quantitative gold nanoparticle-based immunochromatographic assay for detection of ochratoxin A in agro-products

In most cases of mycotoxin detection, quantitation is critical while immunochromatographic strip tests are qualitative in nature. Moreover, the sensitivity of this technique is questioned. In order to overcome these limitations, an ultrasensitive and quantitative immunochromatographic assay (ICA) for rapid and sensitive quantitation of ochratoxin A (OTA) was developed. The assay was based on a competitive format and its sensitivity was improved by using a sensitive and selective OTA monoclonal antibody (OTA-mAb). The visible ICA results were obtained within 15 min, and in addition to visual examination, they were read by the rapid color intensity portable strip reader. The visual and computational detection limits (vLOD and cLOD, respectively) for ochratoxin A were 0.2 and 0.25 ng mL(-1), respectively. These values were lower than those reported by previous studies in a range 5-2500 folds. For validation, contaminated samples including wheat, maize, rice and soybean were assayed by ICA and a standard high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results were in good agreement for both ICA and HPLC methods. The average recoveries of the HPLC were in the range 72-120% while the ICA values were from 76 to 104%, confirming the accuracy and sensitivity of this method.

Incidence of aflatoxins in Iran pistachio nuts

Aflatoxins (AF) are highly toxic and carcinogenic secondary fungal metabolites and have been detected in various food commodities including pistachio nuts. Pistachio nuts were produced in Iran during March 2002-February 2003 analyzed for aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), aflatoxin B2 (AFB2), aflatoxin G1 (AFG1) and aflatoxin G2 (AFG2) using immunoaffinity column and quantitated by HPLC and/or TLC-scanner. In this regard, 3356 pistachio nut samples were collected. After dividing samples to sub-samples, 10,068 AF analyses were done. Among 10,068 samples analyzed, AFB1 was detected in 3699 samples (36.7% of the total) with the mean and median of 5.9 (+/-41.7) ng/g and 0.1 ng/g, respectively. Total AF (AFT) was detected in 2852 samples (28.3% of the total) with the mean and median of 7.3 (+/-53.2)ng/g and 0.4 ng/g, respectively. AFB1 level in 1191 samples (11.8%) was above the maximum tolerated level (MTL) of AFB1 in pistachio nut in Iran (5 ng/g). Regarding AFT, the mean contamination level (7.3 ng/g) was lower than MTL of AFT in pistachio nut in Iran as well as lower than the proposed draft maximum level of Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants for AFT (15 ng/g), and only 7.5% of samples had levels above the MTL.

Limited survey for the occurrence of aflatoxins in cereals and poultry feeds from Rabat, Morocco

Fifty eight (58) samples of cereals for human consumption (20 corn flour, 17 wheat flour) and poultry feeds (n=21) purchased from popular markets of Rabat in Morocco were analyzed for aflatoxins (AF) by HPLC with immunoaffinity column (IAC) clean-up and fluorimetric detection. The incidence of AF in corn, wheat flour and poultry feeds was about 80, 17.6 and 66.6% respectively. High contamination levels were found in corn and poultry feeds samples. Levels of contamination of analyzed samples with AFB1 ranged from 0.23 to 11.2, 0.03 to 0.15 and 0.05 to 5.38 ng/g for corn, wheat and poultry feeds respectively. Results showed also that the contamination of 10% of samples of corn was higher than the limit set by EU regulations for AFB1 and total AF. This is the first report on the determination of AF in corn, wheat and poultry feeds from Morocco by HPLC and IAC.