Natural occurrence of toxigenic mycoflora and ochratoxin A & aflatoxins in commonly used spices from Bihar state (India)

The present study was carried out to investigate the aflatoxigenic and ochratoxigenic fungi and their mycotoxins from 194 samples of 5 types of spices (black pepper, turmeric, fennel, green cardamom and mace). Ochratoxin A producing A. niger and aflatoxin producing A. flavus were the most dominant species present in all types of spice. 52% of A. flavus and 44% of A. parasiticus from black pepper were toxigenic and produce aflatoxins where as 40% of A. ochraceus form black pepper and 33.3% of P. verrucosum from green cardamom were produce ochratoxin A. Qualitative and quantitative detection of mycotoxins in spices were analyzed by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). 78.1% of black pepper samples were contaminated with aflatoxins followed by mace (63.3%). Both aflatoxins and ochratoxin A were present in all types of spices. The maximum amount of aflatoxins and ochratoxin A was in black pepper 320ppb and 155ppb respectively. The result of this study suggests that the spices are rich substrate for growth of ochratoxigenic and aflatoxigenic fungi and further ochratoxin A and aflatoxins production. The amounts detected in these spices were sufficiently high to induce carcinogenesis. This is the first report of occurrence of ochratoxin A in spices from Bihar state (India).