Microbiological Quality and Risk Assessment for Aflatoxins in Groundnuts and Roasted Cashew Nuts Meant for Human Consumption.

Modupeade Christianah Adetunji,Olusegun Oladimeji Atanda,Mulunda Mwanza,Ogechi Precious Alika,Ngozi Precious Awa

doi:10.1155/2018/1308748

Modupeade Christianah Adetunji, Olusegun Oladimeji Atanda + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/1308748

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Abstract

Nuts are one of the commonly consumed snacks but poor handling and storage practices can make them prone to foodborne infections. The study aimed at assessing the microbiological quality and risk assessment for aflatoxins in groundnuts and cashew nuts consumed in selected locations in Nigeria. The moisture content, colony counts, incidence of pathogenic bacteria, aflatoxin contamination, and risk assessment for aflatoxins were evaluated using standard methods. The moisture content and total viable count ranged from 5.00–8.60% and 5.5–89 × 103 cfug−1, respectively, while the fungal count was between 4–24 × 103 and 1.0–4.5 × 102 cfug−1, respectively. Eleven fungal species belonging to 5 genera were isolated from the nuts, with Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus oryzae, and Fusarium oxysporum having the highest percentage occurrence of 50%. In addition, the aflatoxin concentration ranged 0.1–6.8 and 29–33.78 ng kg−1 for cashew nuts and groundnuts, respectively. The margin of exposure (MOE) to aflatoxin contamination was 6.10 for groundnuts and 1000 for cashew nuts and the nuts consumers were at a risk of exposure to foodborne diseases and aflatoxin contamination with mean exposure values of 27.96 and 0.17 ng kg−1bwday−1, respectively. The risk of primary liver cancer for groundnuts and cashew nuts consumers was also estimated to be 1.38 and 0.01 canceryear−1100,000−1person, respectively. This calls for mitigation measures from appropriate governmental organizations.

Highlights

Nuts are delicacies generally accepted by almost everyone due to their high nutritive value and taste [1]
The estimated liver cancer risk for Nigerian adult consumers was calculated for aflatoxins because the ingestion of the toxin can be traced to the development of liver cancer [32, 34]
The moisture content of our roasted cashew nuts was higher than the findings of Adebajo and Diyaolu [21] who reported a range of moisture content of 4.1–6.8% with a mean of 5.4% in cashew nuts from the same state

Summary

Introduction

Nuts are delicacies generally accepted by almost everyone due to their high nutritive value and taste [1]. If the nuts are not properly handled at this stage, it could lead to mould growth especially when seeds are not properly dried to the recommended moisture level before storage [2, 3] Another major source of mould invasion could be during storage when nuts are stored under conditions suitable for mould growth such as high temperature and humidity [4]. Aflatoxins consumed by humans may lead to different forms of diseases like cancer, cirrhosis and other liver diseases, spontaneous abortion, and immunosuppression interference with micronutrient metabolism and stunted growth [8]. They have been associated with diseases such as aflatoxicosis in livestock, domestic animals, and humans throughout the world. This will help to evaluate the current safety level of consumers in the selected states and provide information to policy makers on appropriate line of actions to embark on

Sample Collection and Preparation

Microbiological Quality of Cashew Nut

Discussion

Conclusion