Investigation of Aflatoxins in Imported Animal Feeds in Iran

Background: Aflatoxins (AF’s) are secondary metabolites produced by certain species of fungi on grains and animal feeds. Because of serious impact of AF’s on health, they should be monitored closely in potentially hazardous foods and feeds. Method: In this study, AF’s in imported animal feeds including cereals, corn gluten and meals (pastes derived from the cotton, colza and sunflower seeds) from several Iranian ports were investigated. To determine AF’s contamination in feeds, the HPLC method coupled with immunoaffinity column clean up and post column derivatization were used. Results: The results showed that 44.2% of samples were positive for AF’s at levels of 0.5 to 103.8μg/Kg. Nine of the positive samples (3.7%) showed total AF’s concentrations (B1, B2, G1 and G2) higher than the limit established by the regulated Iranian standards. Conclusions: The results of the present investigation showed that the level of aflatoxin contamination in these feeds samples was variable. Among the samples, corn was more susceptible to various AF species than other tested substrates.