Survey of Aflatoxin M1 in Pasteurized Milks of East Azarbaijan Province by HPLC Method

Background & objectives: Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites of fungi and one of the most important types of mycotoxins identified as a carcinogen for humans. The aim of this study was to determine the level of aflatoxin M1 in milk production of dairy factories in east Azerbaijan province by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Methods: In this study, 45 samples of pasteurized milk were randomly collected from dairy factories in East Azerbaijan province between August and October 2015. Then, the amount of aflatoxin M1 in each sample was determined by HPLC method equipped with fluorescence detection after immunoaffinity purification. Results: The results showed that 47% of the tested samples were contaminated with aflatoxin M1 toxin. No detectable contamination was observed in 53% of the samples. The contamination range was between 1-43.27 ng/L, and none of the samples had contamination higher than the EU legal limit (50 ng/L). There was a significant difference in aflatoxin M1 contamination in pasteurized milk samples of different dairy factories (p˂0.05).  Conclusion: The low level of aflatoxin M1 in the studied samples can be satisfactory in terms of public health at present. However, contamination level close to the standard limit was observed in 3% of the samples and requires continuous monitoring and more detailed studies such as the type of animal feed. In addition to maintaining the hygiene of livestock and dairy factories, it is necessary to plan to reduce the amount of aflatoxin M1 in milk and dairy products.