Department of Applied Chemistry, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan.
Natural Medicines and Products Research Laboratory, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jul 29;18(15):8015. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18158015.
Aflatoxins (AFs) are secondary metabolites toxic to humans as well as animals. The environmental conditions, conventional agricultural practices, and illiteracy are the main factors which favor the production of AFs in food and feed. In the current study 744 samples of vegetable seeds and oils (soybean, sunflower, canola, olive, corn, and mustard) were collected and tested for the presence of aflatoxin B (AFB) and total AFs. Liquid-liquid extraction was employed for the extraction of AFs from seeds and oil samples. Reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography equipped with fluorescence detection was used for the analysis. The results have shown that 92 (56.7%) samples of imported and 108 (57.0%) samples of local edible seeds were observed to be contaminated with AFs. All samples of edible seeds have AFB levels greater than the proposed limit set by the European Union (EU, 2 µg/kg) and 12 (7.40%) samples of imported seeds and 14 (7.40%) samples of local seeds were found in the range ≥ 50 µg/kg. About 78 (43.3%) samples of imported edible oil and 103 (48.3%) sample of local edible oil were observed to be positive for AFs. Furthermore, 16 (8.88%) and six (3.33%) samples of imported vegetable oil have levels of total AFs in a range (21-50 µg/kg) and greater than 50 µg/kg, respectively. The findings indicate significant differences in AFs levels between imported and local vegetable oil samples (t = 22.27 and = 0.009) at α = 0.05 and a significant difference in AFs levels were found between vegetable seeds and oil samples (t = -17.75, = 0.009) at α = 0.05. The highest dietary intake was found for a local sunflower oil sample (0.90 µg/kg/day) in female individuals (16-22 age group). The results have shown considerably high levels of AFB1 and total AFs in seeds and oil samples and emphasise the need to monitor carefully the levels of these toxic substances in food and feed on regular basis.
黄曲霉毒素(AFs)是对人类和动物都有毒性的次级代谢物。环境条件、常规农业实践和文盲是促进食品和饲料中产生 AFs 的主要因素。在当前的研究中,采集了 744 份蔬菜种子和油(大豆、葵花籽、油菜籽、橄榄油、玉米和芥菜)样本,并检测了黄曲霉毒素 B(AFB)和总 AFs 的存在情况。采用液液萃取法从种子和油样中提取 AFs。采用反相高效液相色谱法结合荧光检测法进行分析。结果表明,进口的 92 份(56.7%)食用种子和 108 份(57.0%)当地食用种子样本被观察到受到 AFs 污染。所有食用种子样本的 AFB 含量均超过欧盟(EU)设定的建议限量(2 µg/kg),12 份(7.40%)进口种子样本和 14 份(7.40%)当地种子样本的 AFB 含量在 50 µg/kg 以上。观察到 78 份(43.3%)进口食用油和 103 份(48.3%)当地食用油样本呈 AFs 阳性。此外,16 份(8.88%)和 6 份(3.33%)进口植物油样本的总 AFs 含量在 21-50 µg/kg 范围内,高于 50 µg/kg。研究结果表明,进口和当地植物油样本的 AFs 含量存在显著差异(t = 22.27, = 0.009),在 α = 0.05 时有统计学意义,种子和油样本之间的 AFs 含量也存在显著差异(t = -17.75, = 0.009),在 α = 0.05 时有统计学意义。在女性个体(16-22 岁年龄组)中,当地葵花籽油样本的最高膳食摄入量为 0.90 µg/kg/天。结果表明,种子和油样本中 AFB1 和总 AFs 的含量相当高,这强调了需要定期仔细监测食品和饲料中这些有毒物质的含量。