Aflatoxins are toxic, carcinogenic chemicals produced by the fungal species, Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus. These fungi can infect crops before and after harvest and produce aflatoxins, thereby contaminating foods and feeds and threatening both human and animal health (Goldblatt, 1970; Jelinek et al., 1989). The first report of the toxicity of aflatoxins appeared nearly thirty years ago...

Aflatoxin, a mycotoxin found commonly in maize and peanuts worldwide, is associated with liver cancer, acute toxicosis, and growth impairment in humans and animals. In Tanzania, sunflower seeds are a source of snacks, cooking oil, and animal feed. These seeds are a potential source of aflatoxin contamination. However, reports on aflatoxin contamination in sunflower seeds and cakes are scarce. T...

The nor mutant of Aspergillus flavus has a defective norsolorinic acid reductase, and thus the aflatoxin biosynthetic pathway is blocked, resulting in the accumulation of norsolorinic acid, a bright red-orange pigment. We developed a visual agar plate assay to monitor yeast strains for their ability to inhibit aflatoxin production by visually scoring the accumulation of this pigment of the nor ...

Background: Aflatoxins are fungal toxins which may be present in some foods and due to their negative health effects, represent a major concern for humans and food industries. In the present study, total aflatoxin contamination in products from eight feed materials production centers located in Qom City of Iran were evaluated by an ELISA technique in November 2012. Methods: A total of 40 feed...

Maize has been adopted as a primary staple human food in Africa. In parts of West Africa, it is consumed up to three times a day and is used as weaning food for babies (1,21). Maize is vulnerable to degradation by mycotoxic fungi, but in the developing world and in sub-Saharan Africa in particular, official monitoring of mycotoxin contamination levels is rare. In West Africa, 98% of people test...

Aflatoxins, which are mainly produced by Aspergillus flavus and parasiticus growing on plants and products stored under inappropriate conditions, represent the most studied group of mycotoxins. Contamination of human and animal milk with aflatoxin M₁, the hydroxylated metabolite of aflatoxin B₁, is an important health risk factor due to its carcinogenicity and mutagenicity. Due to the low conce...

Peanut is still a major oilseed and staple crop in Senegal. It is, however, prone to contamination by aflatoxins, a major public health concern. This work was conducted to assess aflatoxin contamination risk linked with consumption of peanut-based dietary products and the influence of different cooking processes on aflatoxin fate. A survey made in the markets of Thies (Senegal) showed that the ...

OBJECTIVE To assess the awareness and knowledge of aflatoxin contamination in groundnut and the risk of its ingestion among health workers in Ibadan. METHODS The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Study instrument was a semi-structured self administered questionnaire. The respondents were health workers from a public health facility. RESULTS A total of 417 health workers partici...