Mycotoxin contamination of food in Ecuador.
Muhlemann, M.; Luthy, J.; Hubner, P.;
Mitteilungen aus dem Gebiete der Lebensmitteluntersuchung und Hygiene Year: 1997 Vol: 88 Issue: 4 Pages: 474-496 Ref: 59 ref.
1997
บทคัดย่อ
Samples (1.2-3.0 kg) of a range of different foods were collected between April 1992 and October 1994 from different climatic regions of Ecuador and analysed for aflatoxin contamination by ELISA and TLC. These included rice and rice products (99 samples), hard, medium hard and soft maize and maize products (89 samples), beans (79), groundnuts (31) and milk (192). Regression analysis of ELISA versus TLC measurements showed good agreement between both methods (r = 0.97). Recoveries from artificially contaminated samples ranged from 71% in milk to 112% in beans, using ELISA, and from 77% in maize to 82% in beans, using TLC. Although only moderate levels of aflatoxin contamination were found in rice, soft maize and beans (mean concentrations: 4.5, 4.0, 3.7 ng/g, respectively) very high levels were found in groundnuts and hard endosperm maize (698, 110 ng/g, respectively). In groundnuts, high aflatoxin contamination levels appeared to be variety dependent and influenced by bad post-harvest conditions
. High aflatoxin concentrations were detected in hard maize produced in the regions of the tropical coast and the east, and a correlation between moisture content and aflatoxin concentration was found for this matrix. Aflatoxin M1 contamination of milk was higher in the important inter-Andean region than in tropical lowlands (0.33 and 0.12 ng/ml, respectively, P=0.006). Total daily aflatoxin intake of Ecuadorians ranged between 15 and 46 ng/kg body weight. Typical Ecuadorian practices like hand-sorting of groundnuts, hygienic quality assessment by appearance and moisture content analysis (maize and rice) as well as nixtamalization (alkaline cooking) of maize lower the aflatoxin contamination, but cannot guarantee safety. It is recommended that basic regulatory and control actions should be taken.