Awareness and Prevalence of Mycotoxin Contamination in Selected Nigerian Fermented Foods.

Ifeoluwa Adekoya,Patrick Njobeh,Sheila Okoth,Sarah De Saeger,Marthe De Boevre,Adewale Obadina,Cynthia Chilaka

doi:10.3390/toxins9110363

Ifeoluwa Adekoya, Patrick Njobeh + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins9110363

Copy DOI

Abstract

Fermented food samples (n = 191) including maize gruel (ogi), sorghum gruel (ogi-baba), melon seed (ogiri), locust bean (iru) and African oil bean seed (ugba) from Southwest Nigeria were quantified for 23 mycotoxins, including aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), fumonisin B1 (FB1), and sterigmatocystin (STE) using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The practices, perceived understanding and health risks related to fungal and mycotoxin contamination amongst fermented food sellers was also established. Data obtained revealed that 82% of the samples had mycotoxins occurring singly or in combination. FB1 was present in 83% of ogi-baba samples, whereas 20% of ugba samples contained AFB1 (range: 3 to 36 µg/kg) and STE was present in 29% of the ogi samples. In terms of multi-mycotoxin contamination, FB1 + FB2 + FB3 + STE + AFB1 + alternariol + HT-2 co-occurred within one sample. The awareness study revealed that 98% of respondents were unaware of mycotoxin contamination, and their education level slightly correlated with their level of awareness (p < 0.01, r = 0.308). The extent to which the analyzed mycotoxins contaminated these food commodities, coupled with the poor perception of the population under study on fungi and mycotoxins, justifies the need to enact fungal and mycotoxin mitigation strategies along the food chain.

Highlights

Processing of food relies on a series of preservative technologies developed to enhance quality, safety, and acceptability, one of which is fermentation
Even though our findings reveal that education level correlates positively with awareness, knowledge and recognized benefits, it is expedient to make the problem known to all categories of individuals
The data presented in this study show ochratoxin A (OTA) being present in ogi-baba, iru, and ugba, at mean levels of 6, 6, and 9 μg/kg, respectively

Summary

Introduction

Processing of food relies on a series of preservative technologies developed to enhance quality, safety, and acceptability, one of which is fermentation. Fermentation is the oxidation of carbohydrates to produce a wide range of products principally alcohol, organic acids and carbon dioxide through microbial activities [1]. Most microorganisms involved in the fermentation of foods (cereals, legumes, oil seeds, etc.) belong mainly to the Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Lactococcus, Pediococcus, Bacillus and Saccharomyces genera. Iru is a condiment that is produced via the fermentation of African locust bean (Parkia biglobosa) by B. substilis, B. licheniformis and B. pumilis [3], whereas ogiri is from melon (Citrullus colocynthis) seed with Bacillus, Escherichia and Pediococcus spp. as the fermenting organisms [3]. The solid-state alkaline fermented proteinous product of the African oil bean seed (Pentaclethra macrophylla) is known as ugba [4], while ogi is a product of lactic acid fermentation of maize or sorghum and principally consumed as weaning food. Ogiri and Toxins 2017, 9, 363; doi:10.3390/toxins9110363 www.mdpi.com/journal/toxins

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion