Moulds and mycotoxins in rice from the Swedish retail market

Abstract

A survey of moulds and mycotoxins was performed on 99 rice samples taken from the Swedish retail market. The main objective was to study the mould and mycotoxin content in basmati rice and rice with a high content of fibre. Samples of jasmine rice as well as long-grain rice were also included. The samples were analysed for their content of ochratoxin A (high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)), aflatoxin B(1), B(2), G(1), and G(2) (HPLC, RIDA(R)QUICK), and mould (traditional cultivation methods in combination with morphological analysis). The majority of samples were sampled according to European Commission Regulation 401/2006. Subsamples were pooled and mixed before milling and both mould and mycotoxin analyses were performed on milled rice. The results showed that the majority of basmati rice (71%) and many jasmine rice samples (20%) contained detectable levels of aflatoxin B(1) (level of quantification = 0.1 microg aflatoxin kg(-1) rice). Two samples of jasmine rice and ten basmati rice samples contained levels over the regulated European maximum limits of 2 microg kg(-1) for aflatoxin B(1) or 4 microg kg(-1) for total aflatoxins. Aspergillus was the most common mould genus isolated, but also Penicillium, Eurotium, Wallemia, Cladosporium, Epicoccum, Alternaria, and Trichotecium were found. The presence of Aspergillus flavus in 21% of the samples indicates that incorrect management of rice during production and storage implies a risk of mould growth and subsequent production of aflatoxin. Rough estimates showed that high rice consumers may have an intake of 2-3 ng aflatoxin kg(-1) bodyweight and day(-1) from rice alone. This survey shows that aflatoxin is a common contaminant in rice imported to Europe.

Aflatoxins in selected Thai commodities

“…This is in agreement with previous reports, where only low content of AFs was detected in a few rice samples (Sales & Yoshizawa 2005;Reiter et al 2010). As reported by Fredlund et al (2009), AFB1 was detected in 71% basmati rice samples and in 20% jasmine rice samples. In this case, it was also detected in high fibre content in jasmine rice (unpolished Thai rice) sold at the Swedish market.…”

“…The occurrence of mycotoxins in rice has been reviewed by Tanaka et al (2007). Aflatoxins were found worldwide in rice samples in the Philippines (Sales & Yoshizawa 2005), China (Liu et al 2006), Vietnam (Nguyen et al 2007), India (Reddy et al 2009), Sweden (Fredlund et al 2009), Austria (Reiter et al 2010), Germany (Reinhold & Reinhardt 2011) and Canada (Bansal et al 2011). In addition, glutinous rice, known as sticky rice, is a kind of rice mostly consumed as a main dish and also preferred to serve as a desert or sweet between meals in some regions of Asia.…”

Mycotoxins in foods in Lower Saxony (Germany): results of official control analyses performed in 2009

“…In basmati rice, and for samples collected in 2010 (n=22), AFs were detectable in about 70% of the samples, with a maximum value (total AFs) of 1.53 μg/kg. Similar reports from Sweden (Fredlund et al 2009) and Iran (Mazaheri 2009) confirm that AFs are common contaminants in rice.…”

Fungos e aflatoxinas no arroz: ocorrência e significado na saúde do consumidor

“…As micotoxinas que já foram encontradas nas amostras de arroz são: citrinina, luteosquirina, cicloclorotina, islanditoxina, rugulosina, ocratoxina A, aflatoxinas, desoxinivalenol, fumonisinas e zearalenona, entre outras (FREDLUND et al, 2009;AYDIN et al, 2011;ALMEIDA et al, 2012). Na presente revisão, serão tratados os aspectos gerais do arroz, sua produção, ocorrência de fungos, aflatoxinas e micotoxinas no Brasil e no mundo, bem como a redução de aflatoxinas durante o processamento do arroz.…”