Novel ultrafine Pt@Fe-MIL-101 nanozyme enables robust aflatoxin B1 immunoassay in diverse marine and agricultural systems.

Effect of the mycotoxin aflatoxin B1 on a semi-continuous anaerobic digestion process

Survey of aflatoxin B1 and heavy metal contamination in peanut and peanut soil in China during 2017–2018

UiOL@AIEgens-assisted lateral flow immunosensor for the ultrasensitive dual-modal point-of-care detection of aflatoxin B1

There has been significant interest in the development of formulations of non-toxigenic strains of Aspergillus flavus for control of toxigenic strains to reduce the aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contamination of maize. In the future, climate change (CC) abiotic conditions of temperature (+2–4°C), CO2 (existing levels of 400 vs. 800–1,200 ppb), and drought stress will impact on the agronomy and control of pests and diseases. This study has examined (1) the effect of two-way interacting factors of water activity × temperature on colonization and AFB1 contamination of maize cobs of different ripening ages; (2) the effect of non-toxigenic strains of A. flavus (50:50 inoculum ratio) on relative control of toxigenic A. flavus and AFB1 contamination of ripening cobs; (3) post-harvest control of AFB1 by non-toxigenic strains of A. flavus in non-GM and isogenic GM maize cultivars using the same inoculum ratio; and (4) the impact of three-way interacting CC factors on relative control of AFB1 in maize cobs pre-harvest and in stored non-GM/GM cultivars. Pre-harvest colonization and AFB1 production by a toxigenic A. flavus strain was conserved at 37°C when compared with 30°C, at the three ripening stages of cob development examined: milk ripe (R3), dough (R4), and dent (R5). However, pre-harvest biocontrol with a non-toxigenic strain was only effective at the R3 and R4 stages and not at the R5 stage. This was supported by relative expression of the aflR regulatory biosynthetic gene in the different treatments. When exposed to three-way interacting CC factors for control of AFB1 pre-harvest, the non-toxigenic A. flavus strain was effective at R3 and £4 stages but not at the R5 stage. Post-harvest storage of non-GM and GM cultivars showed that control was achievable at 30°C, with slightly better control in GM-cultivars in terms of the overall inhibition of AFB1 production. However, in stored maize, the non-toxigenic strains of A. flavus had conserved biocontrol of AFB1 contamination, especially in the GM-maize cultivars under three-way interacting CC conditions (37°C × 1,000 ppm CO2 and drought stress). This was supported by the relative expression of the aflR gene in these treatments. This study suggests that the choice of the biocontrol strains, for pre- or post-harvest control, needs to take into account their resilience in CC-related abiotic conditions to ensure that control of AFB1 contamination can be conserved.

Food spoilage and their contamination with mycotoxins are a significant issue for the food industry, leading to economic losses and a negative impact on public health all over the world. The objective of this study was to examine the preventive effect of different concentrations of Propylparaben (PP) for control of fungal populations and aflatoxin b1 (AFB1) contamination of stored chilli powder in both artificially and naturally contaminations. These treatments were examined at two different water activity (aw) levels (0.90 and 0.95 aw) in stored chilli powder at 30oC for 20 days. The total populations of A. flavus isolated from both artificially and naturally contamination of stored chilli powder at 30oC were significantly reduced by using PP treatments especially, with 2000 ppm. In additions, the AFB1 production was reduced when increased PP concentration compared to the untreated control. In conclusion, the economic and health impacts related to Aspergillus and AFB1 contamination could be minimised by adding PP as a food-grade preservative to stored chilli powder, Results show From a human health perspective, the use of PP is allowed as a food preservative by the (IARC) and (WHO). It must use according to legislation doses (0.1%) introduced by the law of (GRAS) regulations.

Pre-harvest host-resistance to Aspergillus infection and aflatoxin B1 contaminations in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) genotypes

Providing safe and nutritious food for children globally is a challenge. In Rwanda, an initiative was introduced in 2018 to tackle chronic malnutrition by offering fortified porridge flour to economically disadvantaged families during critical periods. However, flour-based products in the sub-region have caused public health concerns following aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contamination. This study analyzed the levels of AFB1 in 197 porridge formulations from health centers, and 248 samples of porridge ingredients from open markets in three districts of Rwanda. Samples were collected between June 2021 and December 2022 and analyzed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography. Of the 197 samples from health centers, 97.9 and 89.8% exceeded the European Union maximum limits for baby foods and foods for special medical purposes (0.1 μg/kg), and cereals and nuts (2 μg/kg), respectively with an average contamination level of 2.77 μg/kg (±0.98). Only four samples exceeded the East African Community maximum limits of 5 μg/kg for AFB1. Samples from open markets that exceeded the European Union and East African community limits of 0.1 μg/kg, 2 μg/kg, and 5 μg/kg ranged from 17 to 100%, 0 to 100%, and 0 to 100%, respectively. Site and processing significantly influenced levels of AFB1 contamination in open-market samples. The mean AFB1 levels were 17.85 μg/kg (±70.25) in Burera District, 36.04 μg/kg (±85.59) in Huye District, and 9.01 μg/kg (±18.49) in Nyarugenge District. The average AFB1 levels significantly varied between different products. Peanut samples showed higher contamination levels of 56.79 and 99.08 μg/kg for grain and flour, respectively. Flour samples in general had a higher mean of 51.65 μg/kg (±105.75), compared to grain samples, 16.5 μg/kg (±44). Thus, there are potential health risks associated with chronic exposure to AFB1 in children consuming flour-based foods from health centers and open markets. Interventions to mitigate AFB1 contamination and protect children should focus on food processing practices, implementing strict quality control measures, and raising awareness among stakeholders about the risks of AFB1 in flour-based products provided to children in Rwanda and similar settings. Key words: Flour-based porridge, contamination, aflatoxin B1, children, Rwanda

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contamination in foods is an important health challenge for low-and middle-income countries in subtropical regions. AFB1 has been detected in a variety of foodsin Guangzhou, while the risk of dietary exposure is unknown. This study aimed to assess the probabilistic risk of dietary exposure to AFB1 contamination in food stuffs in Guangzhou by using margin of exposure (MOE) and quantitative liver cancer risk approaches. A total of1854 AFB1-contaminated foodstuffs were sampled in supermarkets, agricultural markets, retail shops, and family workshops from 11 districts of Guangzhou, and AFB1 content was determined by HPLC-fluorescence detector. In total, 9.9% (184/1854) of the test samples had AFB1 concentrations above the limit of detection. Home-made peanut oil had the highest AFB1 concentration, with a mean value of 38.74 ± 47.45 μg kg−1. The average MOE levels of Guangzhou residents ranged from 100 to 1000. The risk of liver cancer was 0.0264 cancers (100,000 population year)−1. The health risks of suburban people were higher than those of urban people, and home-made peanut oil was the main contributorto dietary exposure to AFB1 among suburban residents in Guangzhou. The production of home-made peanut oil should be supervised to reduce the risk of AFB1 exposure.

Laurus nobilis essential oil nanoemulsion-infused chitosan: A safe and effective antifungal agent for masticatory preservation

Efficacy of sodium metabisulphite for control of Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxin B1 contamination in vitro and in chilli powder and whole red chillies

Shortwave Near-Infrared Spectroscopy for Rapid Detection of Aflatoxin B1 Contamination in Polished Rice

The Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contamination in peanut oil is harmful and widespread. In this study, a laser induced fluorescence spectroscopy (LIF) system was developed for rapid and non-invasive screening of four varieties of peanut oils contaminated with different levels of AFB1. Discriminant analysis was conducted to classify the four varieties of peanut oils into acceptable (AFB1 < 20 μg kg−1) and contaminated (AFB1 ≥ 20 μg kg−1) levels. The results of single-step modelling, which directly classify the whole 540 peanut oils into acceptable and contaminated levels, could achieve an accuracy of 95% and 93% for calibration and validation sets respectively. Considering the fluorescence spectra could easily be influenced by the difference of physicochemical properties of different varieties of peanut oils, two-steps modelling method was conducted. In the first step, the total 540 peanut oils were classified into four varieties with all accuracy of 100% based on 600–800 nm, by using LDA algorithm. In the second step, the AFB1 contamination levels of each variety were discriminated. The classification accuracy was increased by at least 5% by conducting two-steps modelling. The results of quantitative analysis showed that for single variety, PLSR based on 400–600 nm could achieve accurate quantitative prediction. The feasibility of LIF technique for the rapid and nondestructive detection of AFB1 contamination in different varieties of edible oils was proved in this study. Further research will focus on the detection of naturally infected oils.

Early contamination warning of Aflatoxin B1 in stored maize based on the dynamic change of catalase activity and data fusion of hyperspectral images

A total of 210 one-day-old dual purpose chicks of mixed sex were used to determine the activity of the chemical (based on organic acids salt) or biological (containing live yeast, yeast cell wall and some enzymes) commercial mycotoxin binder and minerals and to evaluate the protective effects of the binder on performance, carcass quality, some blood biochemical changes and immune status of broilers fed with Aflatoxin B1. The chicks were randomly allotted into 6 equal groups, the first group fed on the basal diet without any supplementation and considered as control, while groups 2 – 3 fed on the same basal diet with chemical and biological mycotoxin binder supplementation through drinking water respectively, while group 4 – 6 fed as mentioned for the first three groups with aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contamination from 22th days of broiler age at a rate of 1mg of AFB1/Kg diet. It was found that aflatoxin feed contamination without mycotoxin binder supplementation significantly (P≤0.05) reduced the growth performance and deteriorated the feed efficiency parameters compared with broiler chicken group fed on the same diet without aflatoxin B1 contamination. On the other hand, chemical or biological mycotoxin binder supplementation with aflatoxin B1 contamination counteract the deleterious effect of aflatoxin B1 and significantly (P≤0.05) improved the growth performance compared with broiler chicken fed on the contaminated diet without mycotoxin binder supplementation. Our data indicated that mycotoxin binder supplementation significantly (P≤0.05) improved the immune response via increase the serum proteins level and improvement the WBCs level especially lymphocytes and neutrophils, phagocytic activity and index, antibodies production and immune organs weight of broiler chicken compared with control group fed on the basal diet without mycotoxin binder supplementation. It can be concluded that biological binder more immune stimulant in broiler chicken compared with chemical mycotoxin binder source.

Tomato and pepper pastes are essential ingredients in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines and contain beneficial health components. However, they may also contain toxic substances, such as aflatoxins. This study aimed to measure the levels of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in commercially branded and locally produced tomato and pepper pastes, and to determine the association between water activity (AW) and AFB1 contamination. Additionally, a risk assessment for AFB1 was conducted by calculating the estimated daily intake (EDI), margin of exposure (MOE), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk. An evaluation of paste type (tomato or pepper) and source (branded or unlabeled) showed no statistically significant difference in AFB1 contamination (p&gt;0.05). No statistically significant correlation was discovered between AW and AFB1 contamination in samples of tomato and pepper pastes (p&gt;0.05). Evaluation of the data revealed that although the observed AFB1 levels were quite low, EDI, MOE, and HCC values were high. This may be due to the high daily consumption of tomato paste. Therefore, public health authorities must prevent AFB1 contamination in foods having high daily consumption. Legal limits of AFB1 contamination in such foods should be reduced as much as possible or not allowed at all.