Occurrence of Aflatoxin B in Some Feedstuffs in Isfahan

Certain food and feed products are threatened by mycotoxins. Aflatoxins are a group of mycotoxinsproduced mainly by fungi Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. There are four majoraflatoxins: B1 , B2, G1 and G2 that are usually formed together in various foods and feeds. AflatoxinB1 is known as the most commonly occurring type of aflatoxin and a potent cancer-causing agent.Because aflatoxigenic fungi can grow on a variety of feedstuff at any stage of production, this studywas undertaken to determine the presence of aflatoxin B1 in certain foodstuff in Isfahan. From July2007 to May 2008, ninety seven samples of animal feeds, such as corn, wheat, barley, rice bran,cottonseed bran, dried roughage feed, and recycled bread were collected from Eastern municipaldistricts of Isfahan. The samples were treated with methanol and aflatoxin was extracted from theaqueous phase with chloroform, and analyzed using the thin layer chromatography (TLC). Nineteensamples out of the 97 analyzed samples were contaminated with aflatoxin B1. Highest number ofcontamination was seen in recycled bread samples (64%). Bread is probably the food of greatestconcern in Iran, because of its predominant consumption. However, the toxin was detectable neither inwheat nor in wheat flour. Contamination of corn, cottonseed bran and rice bran were 38, 25 and 17%respectively. Results indicated that high contamination of recycled bread can be associated with a verypoor storage habit. However contamination of corn, cottonseed bran and rice bran may occur duringprocessing and storage.

کلیدواژه ها:

Mycotoxins ، Aflatoxins ، aflatoxicosis ، Aspergillus ، Feedstuff