Abstract
Mycotoxins are natural metabolites produced by fungi that can cause disease and death in human and animals alike, even in low concentrations. More than thirty mycotoxins that contaminate sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) and its derived products are known. This work aimed to investigate the presence of aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A in sorghum malt and beer, sampled between January and April 2012 in Ouagadougou. Mycotoxins in fifty samples of sorghum beer and twenty samples of sorghum malts have been purified using immunoaffinity columns, and later identified and quantified using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A were no found in any of the sorghum beer samples. However, 25% of the sorghum malt samples contained aflatoxin B1 with an average of 97.6 ± 88.2 ppb (p < 0.05), while none contained ochratoxin A above the level of 0.8 ppb (ochratoxin A limit of detection). From the samples collected in this study, consumption of sorghum beer seems to be safe concerning contamination in aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A but a dietary assessment of exposure should be conducted. Key words: Aflatoxin B1, ochratoxin A, sorghum beer, sorghum malt, HPLC.  
Highlights
Cereals, such as sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) constitute an important part of the daily diet in Burkina Faso
The absence of detectable mycotoxins in sorghum beer samples raised a certain number of questions related to other results and especially the presence of aflatoxin B1 in malts
It was difficult to envisage the hypothesis that the absence of quantifiable Aflatoxin B1 and Ochratoxin A in sorghum beer was due to the fact that malts originally used for the production of sorghum beer were free of mycotoxins, despite its possibility
Summary
Cereals, such as sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) constitute an important part of the daily diet in Burkina Faso. Dolo is the most commonly consumed alcoholic beverage (60% of population) in Burkina Faso where 75% of the total sorghum grain production is used for its preparation (Sawadogo-Lingani et al, 2007). This beverage is used during some traditional ceremonies within the country. Sorghum ranks fifth in total area planted in the world after rice, wheat, corn and barley It is the main cereal food for over 750 million people living in the semiarid tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America (Codex Committee on Food Contaminants, 2011).
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