Research Publications (Food Safety)

A neoteric measure for quantitative assay of Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in maize based on an optimized feature model of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy was proposed in the work. A portable near-infrared spectroscopy system constructed by the group was employed to collect maize samples with varying degrees of mildew.

Aflatoxins, widely found in feed and foodstuffs, are potentially harmful to human and animal health because of their high toxicity. In this study, a strain of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens B10 with a strong ability to degrade aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) was screened; it could degrade 2.5 μg/mL of AFB1 within 96 h. The active substances of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens B10 for the degradation of AFB1 mainly existed in the culture supernatant.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a potent mycotoxin and natural carcinogen. The primary producers of AFB1 are Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus. Sterigmatocystin (STC), another mycotoxin, shares its biosynthetic pathway with aflatoxins. While there are abundant data on the biological effects of AFB1, STC is not well characterised. According to published data, AFB1 is more harmful to biological systems than STC.

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of molds and mainly produced by species of the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium. They can be synthesized on the field, during harvest as well as during storage. They are fairly stable compounds and difficult to remove. Among several hundreds of mycotoxins, according to the WHO, ochratoxin A, aflatoxins, zearalenone, deoxynivalenol, patulin, fumonisins as well as T-2 and HT-2 toxins deserve special attention.

Journal of Separation Science, Accepted Article. A temperature–induced counter current homogenous liquid–liquid extraction procedure performed in a burette has been proposed for the isolation of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 from various fruit chip samples. In this method, a homogenous solution of deionized water and cyclohexyl amine is added onto the solid sample and the resulted mixture is vortexed.

Maize is the main dietary cereal in Mexico and Central America, with annual per capita consumption between 25.5 and 116.34 kg. Unfortunately, maize is highly susceptible to fungal infestation in the field, either through systemic infections or wounds caused by farm equipment, birds or insects. Field infestations can be exacerbated by bad postharvest handling practices.

This study assessed the adsorption capacity and stability of Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), Ochratoxin A (OTA), and Zearalenon (ZEA) via Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus ATCC 7469 individually and in combination with each other. Detoxifying efficiency depends on lactic acid bacteria species (hydrophobicity of cell wall), pH, temperature, time and mycotoxin type.

International Journal of Food Science & Technology, Accepted Article. In this study, an Enzyme Linked Immuno Assay (ELISA) was used to detect the presence of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and total aflatoxins (AFT) in 200 samples of nuts for human consumption.

Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, Accepted Article. Milk quality and safety maintenance is an important issue, as many reports showed several biological and chemical contaminants in the milk. Among all contaminants, AFM1 is detected frequently in milk samples. Therefore, our main aim was to understand the digestive fate of AFM1 in an in-vitro digestion (IVD) model system by using AFM1 spiked milk samples (2ug/L).

Journal of Food Biochemistry, EarlyView. Copper II-Albumin complex (Cu-II-Albumin complex) is a novel therapeutic target that has been used as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-gastrointestinal toxicity.

Milk is susceptible to aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) contamination when dairy cattle consume feed contaminated with aflatoxins and is considered as a public health concern. This pilot study assessed the prevalence and amount of total aflatoxin contamination in commercially available dairy feed and the corresponding AFM1 contamination in raw milk from samples collected at farms using local, commercially available dairy feed across Rwanda’s five provinces.

Mycotoxins are a group of toxic secondary metabolites produced in the food chain by fungi through the infection of crops both before and after harvest. Mycotoxins are one of the most important food safety concerns due to their severe poisonous and carcinogenic effects on humans and animals upon ingestion. In the last decade, insects have received wide attention as a highly nutritious, efficient and sustainable source of animal-derived protein and caloric energy for feed and food purposes.

Laccase, a multicopper oxidase, is well known for its industrial potentials to remove environmental pollutants due to its low substrate specificity to oxidize phenols and thus catalytic versatility.

Aflatoxins count to the most toxic known mycotoxins and are a threat to food safety especially in regions with a warm and humid climate. Contaminated food reaches consumers globally due to international trade, leading to stringent regulatory limits of aflatoxins in food. While the formation of aflatoxin (AF) B1 by the filamentous fungus Aspergillus flavus is well investigated, less is known about the formation kinetics of its precursors and further aflatoxins.

International Journal of Food Science & Technology, Volume 57, Issue 4, Page 2149-2158, April 2022. Chilli is one of the valuable spices commercialised globally, added as condiments in various cuisines and is easily susceptible to aflatoxin contamination (produced mainly by Aspergillus flavus) during pre- and post-harvesting stages. The important factors such as temperature, moisture content and humidity affect the growth of fungi producing aflatoxins.

International Journal of Food Science & Technology, Volume 57, Issue 4, Page 2185-2194, April 2022. The aflatoxin contamination of chilli pepper grown and marketed in Tamil Nadu, a southern Indian state, was assessed. Chilli samples were collected at different stages of the value chain and were quantified using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test.

Breast milk is considered the ideal form of nutrition for newborns and infants. However, it can carry over contaminants, namely mycotoxins, with biological effects to which this population is particularly vulnerable. Human biomonitoring and surveillance programs are particularly scarce in low-income countries, where food security is a more urgent priority in comparison with food safety.

Maize is affected by Aspergillus flavus and by the contamination of its kernels with aflatoxins, of which AFB1 is the most important. The Chaco Semi-arid is a region of Argentina in which the climate conditions increase this problem and due to the use of resistant cultivars is the best available tactic to reduce aflatoxin accumulation, we analyzed six hybrids against artificial inoculation with native aflatoxin-producing isolates of A. flavus.

This study evaluated the presence of aflatoxin B1 in five different animal feeds collected from manufacturers, suppliers and consumers and its possible reduction by heating at 100°C for 180 min. A total of 160 animal feed samples were collected and analyzed by using lateral flow immunoassay method.

The present study aimed to determine the presence of the aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in breast milk samples from 123 nursing women and the degree of exposure of infants to this toxin, in the metropolitan area of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon state (northeast Mexico). Upon analysis, 100% of the samples were found to be contaminated with the toxin at an average concentration of 17.04 ng/L, with a range of 5.00 to 66.23 ng/L.

This study evaluated the fungal incidence through direct plating in Agar Dichloran Glycerol, and the presence of aflatoxins in maize samples from the Highlands and Coast of Ecuador by HPLC, investigating the influence of the temperature, altitude, water activity, and humidity of the collection regions on the maize samples’ contamination using Principal Components Analysis (PCA).

To evaluate the effect of L-Threonine (L-Thr) and Mycofix® Plus (MP) on aflatoxicosis, an experiment with a 3-way ANOVA model was carried out with 8 replicates and 640 birds. Treatments included two levels of L-Thr (100% and 125% of the requirements, Cobb 500, Cobb-Vantress), Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) (0, 500 ppb), and MP (0, 1 g/kg).

High levels of mycotoxin contamination have been reported in various food commodities in Pakistan, however, there has been no exposure assessment study using multiple mycotoxins’ biomarkers. This study aimed to simultaneously assess the exposure to the five major mycotoxins: aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisin B1 (FB1), ochratoxin A (OTA) and zearalenone (ZEN) in a Pakistani population using an integrated approach of human biomonitoring.

The first 1000 days of life are very sensitive to any event that alters health programming, and they represent a window for intervention to improve population health. Pregnant women, fetuses, and infants are particularly vulnerable to exposure to food contaminated with mycotoxins.

Milk, the most consumed dairy product, is often contaminated by the carcinogenic aflatoxin M1. Here, we present a one-step automatic sample pretreatment method using immunomagnetic beads and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis for the detection of aflatoxin M1 in milk with good linearity and sensitivity (detection limit = 0.0008 μg/kg and quantitation limit = 0.0027 μg/kg).