Determination Of Aflatoxin M1 In Raw Cow's Milk Using Hplc- Fld, In Injibara Town, Awi Zone, Amhara, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Consumption of contaminated milk is a major health problem for consumers, and aflatoxins are potent liver carcinogens, mutagens, and immunosuppressive compounds. Therefore, raw cow milk must be constantly monitored for the presence of AFM1 contamination. It is extremely important to keep AFM1 levels low in raw cow’s milk. The level of AFM1 in milk varies depending on the level of AFB1 ingested by dairy cattle through the feed. Objective: This investigation is mainly focused on the detection of levels of AFM1 in raw cow’s milk. There is little information on the level and distribution of aflatoxin in raw milk samples from cows in the vicinity of Injibara Town. Therefore, it is important to analyze the level and distribution of aflatoxin in raw milk samples from cows in Injibara Town. Methods: This study is mainly a quantitative investigation of the amount of AFM1 in raw cow’s milk using the HPLC-FLD spectrometry methods. All the milk samples were collected using a random sampling technique method from different areas during the night and morning a day and the collected raw cow’s milk samples were stored in a clean polyethylene bag. Results: In the present study, a total of 324 raw cow’s milk samples were collected from farmers in Injibara town, and samples were analyzed in triplicate for AFM1 determination by HPLC-FLD. Aflatoxin M1 was detected in 3 (0.92 percent of whole samples) out of 324 samples with quantities ranging from 0.046 to 0.22 µg/L and a mean value of 0.121 µg/L. From 324 raw cow’s milk samples, two (0.62 %) were seen over and one sample (0.31 %) was below the permissible limits of EU and ES (0.05 µg/L. The most number of samples were not detected in AFM1 analysis. Conclusions: From this result conclude that two samples (0.096 and 0.22 μg/L) were over the EU (0.05μg/L) and ES (0.05μg/L) permitted levels and under analysis, one sample (0.046 μg/L) was below the standard limit in the USA (0.5 μg/L). The average contamination was 0.121µg/L and this data revealed that the raw cow’s milk is to a small extent contaminated with aflatoxins.