Naeem Iqra, Ismail Amir, Gong Yun Yun, Riaz Muhammad, Hameed Aneela, Aziz Mubashir, Mahmood Asif, Al Masry Waheed, Latif Muhammad, Ali Sher, Fernandes de Oliveira Carlos Augusto
Department of Food Science & Technology, Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan.
Department of Food Safety and Quality Management, Faculty of Food Science & Nutrition, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan.
Toxicon. 2025 Nov;266:108515. doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2025.108515. Epub 2025 Jul 31.
This research aimed to isolate aflatoxigenic Aspergillus spp. and quantify the levels of aflatoxins (AF) in Pakistani rice (N = 180) and conduct a case study to assess the AF decontamination effect of accelerated aging (AA) using microwave and improved storage practices of brown rice. AF-producing A. flavus and A. parasiticus strains were recovered from 120 samples analyzed (66.7 %) at median counts of 2.88 and 2.33 Log colony forming units/g, respectively. AF levels in Pakistani rice (paddy, brown, and white rice) exceeded the EU maximum permissible limit (MPL) of 5 μg/kg for AFB and 10 μg/kg for total AFs in 29.8 % and 15.6 % of samples, respectively. Brown rice showed the highest AF contamination (85 %), followed by paddy rice (83.3 %) and white rice (76.7 %), with median levels of 7.65, 5.70 and 4.38 μg/kg, respectively. Compared with traditional storage of brown rice aged naturally, AF levels in kernels submitted to AA along with improved storage had a 46 % reduction during 180-day storage. Compared with naturally aged samples, AA brown rice had lower values of fatty acid, and higher levels of total phenolic content and antioxidant activity at day 180 of storage. Data presented indicated that AA using microwave and proper storage practices are valuable strategies to mitigate AF contamination in brown rice, with additional beneficial effects on the product's quality during storage.
本研究旨在分离产黄曲霉毒素的曲霉属菌种，对巴基斯坦大米（n = 180）中的黄曲霉毒素（AF）水平进行定量，并开展一项案例研究，以评估利用微波加速老化（AA）和改进糙米储存方法对AF的去污效果。从120份分析样本（66.7%）中分离出了产AF的黄曲霉和寄生曲霉菌株，其菌落形成单位计数中位数分别为2.88和2.33 Log CFU/g。巴基斯坦大米（稻谷、糙米和白米）中的AF水平分别在29.8%和15.6%的样本中超过了欧盟AFB的5 μg/kg和总AFs的10 μg/kg的最大允许限量（MPL）。糙米的AF污染最高（85%），其次是稻谷（83.3%）和白米（76.7%），中位数水平分别为7.65、5.70和4.38 μg/kg。与传统自然老化储存的糙米相比，经过AA处理并改进储存方法的糙米在180天储存期内AF水平降低了46%。与自然老化样本相比，AA处理的糙米在储存180天时脂肪酸值较低，总酚含量和抗氧化活性较高。所呈现的数据表明，利用微波进行AA处理和适当的储存方法是减轻糙米中AF污染的有效策略，同时在储存期间对产品质量还有额外的有益影响。
