Udomkun Patchimaporn, Wossen Tesfamicheal, Nabahungu Nsharwasi L, Mutegi Charity, Vanlauwe Bernard, Bandyopadhyay Ranajit
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Bujumbura Burundi.
IITA Nairobi Kenya.
Food Sci Nutr. 2018 Jul 16;6(6):1607-1620. doi: 10.1002/fsn3.735. eCollection 2018 Sep.
Despite efforts to reduce aflatoxin contamination and associated mycotoxin poisoning, the phenomenon continues to pose a public health threat in food and feed commodity chains. In this study, 300 samples of cassava, maize, and groundnut were collected from farmers' households in Eastern DRC and analyzed for incidence of aflatoxins. In addition, the farmers' level of knowledge of the causes and consequences of contamination and the measures for prevention were also examined by administering questionnaires to a cross section of 150 farmers. The results showed the presence of aflatoxins in all samples, with levels ranging from 1.6 to 2,270 μg/kg. In 68% of all samples, total aflatoxin contamination was above 4 μg/kg, the maximum tolerable level set by the European Union. Farmers ranked high humidity, improper storage practices, and poor soils as potential causes of aflatoxin contamination and changes in color, smell, and taste, and difficulty in selling crops as consequences. They identified crop management practices as the most effective way to control contamination. The results also revealed that most farmers apply preharvest crop management practices as a means of controlling contamination. More educated households were more knowledgeable about aflatoxins. Female-headed and married households were less likely to be willing to pay for aflatoxin control. About 28% of farmers claimed to be willing to allocate resources to seed intervention while a smaller proportion agreed to pay for training and information services. The result further suggests that an adoption of pre- and postharvest technologies together with awareness creation is still required to reduce aflatoxin contamination in the country.
尽管人们努力减少黄曲霉毒素污染及相关霉菌毒素中毒现象，但这一现象在食品和饲料商品链中仍对公众健康构成威胁。在本研究中，从刚果民主共和国东部的农户那里收集了300份木薯、玉米和花生样本，并对黄曲霉毒素的发生率进行了分析。此外，还通过向150名农户发放调查问卷，考察了他们对污染原因和后果以及预防措施的了解程度。结果显示，所有样本中均存在黄曲霉毒素，含量在1.6至2270微克/千克之间。在所有样本中，68%的总黄曲霉毒素污染超过了欧盟设定的4微克/千克的最大耐受水平。农户们将高湿度、不当的储存做法和贫瘠的土壤列为黄曲霉毒素污染的潜在原因，并将颜色、气味和味道的变化以及作物销售困难列为后果。他们认为作物管理措施是控制污染的最有效方法。结果还显示，大多数农户采用收获前作物管理措施作为控制污染的手段。受教育程度较高的家庭对黄曲霉毒素了解更多。女性户主家庭和已婚家庭不太愿意为黄曲霉毒素控制付费。约28%的农户声称愿意为种子干预分配资源，而同意为培训和信息服务付费的比例较小。结果进一步表明，仍需要采用收获前和收获后技术并提高认识，以减少该国的黄曲霉毒素污染。
