Dietary Risk Assessment and Consumer Awareness of Mycotoxins among Household Consumers of Cereals, Nuts and Legumes in North-Central Nigeria

Abstract

This study characterized the health risks due to the consumption of mycotoxin-contaminated foods and assessed the consumer awareness level of mycotoxins in households in two north-central Nigerian states during the harvest and storage seasons of 2018. Twenty-six mycotoxins and 121 other microbial and plant metabolites were quantified by LC-MS/MS in 250 samples of cereals, nuts and legumes. Aflatoxins were detected in all food types (cowpea, maize, peanut and sorghum) except in millet. Aflatoxin B1 was the most prevalent mycotoxin in peanut (64%) and rice (57%), while fumonisin B1 occurred most in maize (93%) and beauvericin in sorghum (71%). The total aflatoxin concentration was highest in peanut (max: 8422 µg/kg; mean: 1281 µg/kg) and rice (max: 955 µg/kg; mean: 94 µg/kg), whereas the totals of the B-type fumonisins and citrinin were highest in maize (max: 68,204 µg/kg; mean: 2988 µg/kg) and sorghum (max: 1335 µg/kg; mean: 186 µg/kg), respectively. Citrinin levels also reached 51,195 µg/kg (mean: 2343 µg/kg) in maize. Aflatoxin and citrinin concentrations in maize were significantly (p < 0.05) higher during storage than at harvest. The estimated chronic exposures to aflatoxins, citrinin and fumonisins were high, resulting in as much as 247 new liver cancer cases/year/100,000 population and risks of nephrotoxicity and esophageal cancer, respectively. Children who consumed the foods were the most vulnerable. Mycotoxin co-occurrence was evident, which could increase the health risk of the outcomes. Awareness of mycotoxin issues was generally low among the households.

Aflatoxins contamination in nuts for direct human consumption: analytical findings from three years of official control in Italy

“…The highest concentrations of AFB1 detected during this study in pistachio samples were also comparable to those reported by Hedayati et al (2016) in their review (53.2 µg kg -1 ), while, regarding AFT, the mean levels registered in this survey resulted as comparable to those detected by Al Jabir et al (2019) in nuts commercialised in Qatar and those described by Macri et al (2021), quantified in pistachio samples stored in polypropylene bag (6.2 µg kg -1 ). Finally, the mean concentrations of AFT and AFB1 quantified during the present work were substantially lower than those reported by Lukwago et al (2019) in peanut samples commercialised in Uganda (AFT up to 450 µg kg -1 ), by Ezekiel et al (2021) in Nigeria (AFB1 median concentration in peanut samples: 170 µg kg -1 ), and by Patel et al (2020) in India (AFB1 and AFT mean concentration in almond samples equal to 21.6 and 25.4 µg kg -1 , respectively).…”

“…(2019) in peanut samples commercialised in Uganda (AFT up to 450 µg kg ‐1 ), by Ezekiel et al . (2021) in Nigeria (AFB1 median concentration in peanut samples: 170 µg kg ‐1 ), and by Patel et al . (2020) in India (AFB1 and AFT mean concentration in almond samples equal to 21.6 and 25.4 µg kg ‐1 , respectively).…”

Study on In Vitro Metabolism and In Vivo Pharmacokinetics of Beauvericin

“…[ 1 , 2 ]. As a mycotoxin, it is a natural contaminant of food and feed commodities [ 3 ]. Importantly, it has attracted extensive attention due to its biological activities, including anticancer, antimicrobial, insecticidal, nematocidal, phytotoxic, and antiviral activities [ 4 ].…”

Trace analysis of emerging and regulated mycotoxins in infant stool by LC-MS/MS

“…Contamination of samples was expected, because exposure to mycotoxins is a common problem in Nigeria [ 37 , 38 ] and several mycotoxins including AFs, FB 1 , OTA, and AME were detected in either breast milk of Nigerian mothers or urine of infants [ 28 , 39 , 40 ]. However, higher contamination levels were reported in complementary food [ 41 , 42 ].…”