Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Basic Sciences in Infectious Diseases Research Center, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021 Aug;28(30):40992-40999. doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-13616-z. Epub 2021 Mar 27.
Among food and agricultural products, spices play important roles in the diets of millions of people worldwide. These products may be colonized by fungi genus and subsequently mycotoxin production. Due to the large demand and supply of spice for cooking, preservative effects, or medicine purpose, it is essential that further investigation is designed to examine mycotoxins in spice. In the present study, the possible contamination of spices by aflatoxins (AFTs) and ochratoxin A (OTA) were analyzed. A total of 80 spice samples (curry, sumac, ginger, and saffron) were purchased and cultured on appropriate medium. Simultaneously mycotoxins from spices were extracted with immunoaffinity columns (IAC), and the occurrence of AFTs (B1 + B2 + G1 + G2) and OTA was then determined using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a fluorescence detector (FD). The results depicted that 62 (77.5%) and 58 (72.5%) spice samples were contaminated with AFTs and OTA, respectively. Out of the 80 analyzed spices samples, the mean concentration of AFTs and OTA was higher in the curry samples. Among spices that contaminated with mycotoxins, 5 (6.25%) and 2 (10%) of the samples were above the acceptable limit of AFTs (≥ 10 μg/kg) and OTA (≥ 15 μg/kg), respectively. Aspergillus species were the predominant species isolated, followed by Penicillium, and finally Mucor species.Among the examined samples, only few curry samples were contaminated with mycotoxins above acceptable limit. Despite this low level of contamination, this spice is used daily in the cuisine of this region of the world, and consequently, even the small amount of these heat stable toxins for a long time may cause many adverse effects. Hence, it is recommended to monitor the toxicogenous fungi contamination and level of mycotoxins in the spices.
在食品和农产品中，香料在全球数百万人的饮食中发挥着重要作用。这些产品可能被真菌属定植，并随后产生霉菌毒素。由于烹饪、保鲜或药用所需的香料需求量大且供应充足，因此有必要进一步调查以检查香料中的霉菌毒素。在本研究中，分析了香料中可能存在的黄曲霉毒素 (AFTs) 和赭曲霉毒素 A (OTA)。共购买了 80 种香料样品（咖喱、漆树、生姜和藏红花），并在适当的培养基上进行培养。同时，用免疫亲和柱（IAC）提取来自香料的霉菌毒素，然后使用带有荧光检测器（FD）的高效液相色谱法（HPLC）测定 AFTs（B1+B2+G1+G2）和 OTA 的发生情况。结果表明，62（77.5%）和 58（72.5%）种香料样品分别受到 AFTs 和 OTA 的污染。在 80 种分析的香料样品中，咖喱样品中 AFTs 和 OTA 的平均浓度较高。在受霉菌毒素污染的香料中，有 5（6.25%）和 2（10%）种样品的 AFTs（≥10μg/kg）和 OTA（≥15μg/kg）超过了可接受限量，分别。分离出的主要真菌属是曲霉属，其次是青霉属，最后是毛霉属。在所检查的样品中，只有少数咖喱样品受到可接受限量以上的霉菌毒素污染。尽管污染程度较低，但这种香料在该地区的烹饪中每天都在使用，因此，即使是长期摄入这些耐热毒素的少量毒素，也可能会产生许多不良反应。因此，建议监测香料中的产毒真菌污染和霉菌毒素水平。
