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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Journal of Health and Allied Sciences NU 2023; 13(01): 103-106
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1748804
Original Article

Incidence of Aflatoxin in Ready to Eat Nuts from Local Food Markets in Mangaluru, India

Miyapadavu Anshida
1   Division of Food safety and Nutrition, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Nitte University Centre for Science Education and Research, Deralakatte, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India
,
Roshani Mohan Raj Juliet∗
1   Division of Food safety and Nutrition, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Nitte University Centre for Science Education and Research, Deralakatte, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India
2   Division of Infectious Diseases, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Nitte University Centre for Science Education and Research, Deralakatte, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India
,
Bangera Sheshappa Mamatha 
1   Division of Food safety and Nutrition, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Nitte University Centre for Science Education and Research, Deralakatte, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India
3   Division of Food safety and nutrition, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Nitte University Centre for Science Education and Research, Deralakatte, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India
,
Dharnappa Sannejal Akhila
1   Division of Food safety and Nutrition, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Nitte University Centre for Science Education and Research, Deralakatte, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India
2   Division of Infectious Diseases, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Nitte University Centre for Science Education and Research, Deralakatte, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India
,
Rajeshwari Vittal
1   Division of Food safety and Nutrition, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Nitte University Centre for Science Education and Research, Deralakatte, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India
4   Division of Environmental Health and Toxicology, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Nitte University Centre for Science Education and Research, Deralakatte, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India
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Abstract

Background and Objective Aflatoxins are a group of naturally occurring mycotoxin which are toxic secondary metabolites produced by certain filamentous fungi like Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. The main objective of this study was to screen the occurrence of aflatoxin in ready to eat nuts available locally and analyzing for its nutritive value and to evaluate the efficiency of conventional (thin-layer chromatography [TLC]) and sensitive kit-based (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA]) method by detection of the aflatoxin in the sample.

Methods A total of 50 samples including peanuts (10), cashew nuts (10), almonds (10), pistachio (10), and walnuts (10) were collected from different stores in Mangalore city. Each sample was divided into three fractions, as for microbiological analysis, proximate analysis, and detection of aflatoxin by following standard method (AOAC2000).

Results The present study evidenced the contamination of aflatoxin in all of the five types of ready-to-eat nuts examined and the concentration was within the acceptable limits. But, among the samples analyzed, G10 (groundnut) showed a maximum concentration of 16 µg/L aflatoxin detected by ELISA method. It was also observed that the proximate analysis mainly moisture content did not affect aflatoxin accumulation.

Conclusion Our study shows that aflatoxin contamination of food products has become a serious threat. Although several methods for detection and quantification of toxins have been developed, due to their low concentration of toxicity in food commodities, an analytical method for detection and quantification of aflatoxin have to be specific, sensitive, and simple to carry out and among TLC and ELISA, ELISA came out as a suitable for rapid and sensitive detection.

Keywords

mycotoxin - aflatoxin - proximate analysis - fungus


Publication History

Article published online:
01 July 2022

© 2022. Nitte (Deemed to be University). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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