Survey of occurrence levels of Aflatoxins in selected locally processed cereal-based foods for human consumption from Ghana

Blankson, G.K.; Mills-Robertson, Felix Charles; Ofosu, Isaac W.

doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2018.08.005

Cited by 32 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Agbetiameh et al 26 reported values of range 1–341 ppb in maize from different ecological zones in Ghana. Likewise, Blankson et al 28 also reported a range of 1.77 ± 0.01–24.58 ± 0.05 μg kg −1 in maize-based samples in locally prepared cereals for consumption in Ghana.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…As emphasized by some previous researchers 20 – 23 , mycotoxins especially aflatoxins toxicity has always been a topic of contentious interest in the international market and economic development of a country, many of agricultural products are often rejected due to excessive contaminations (beyond specific thresholds of host countries). This is evidenced in previously published works on aflatoxins and cereals in Ghana which revealed some tenacity and unsatisfactory trend of contamination 24 – 28 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

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The occurrence of aflatoxins and human health risk estimations in randomly obtained maize from some markets in Ghana

Kortei

Annan

Akonor

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Maize and its products are most often prone to fungal contamination especially during cultivation and storage by toxigenic fungi. Aflatoxicosis still persist in Ghana despite the numerous education on several ways of its prevention at the farm as well as its adverse health implications which are food safety concerns. A random assessment and human risk analysis was conducted on 90 maize (72 white and 18 colored) samples from markets across all the regions of Ghana. Total aflatoxins (AFtotal) and the constitutive aflatoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, and AFG2) were analyzed by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Out of a total of ninety (90) samples investigated, 72 (80%) tested positive for AFB1 and the contamination levels ranged from 0.78 ± 0.04 to 339.3 ± 8.6 µg kg−1. Similarly, AFG2 was detected in only 14 (15.5%) samples, and their values ranged between 1.09 ± 0.03 and 5.51 ± 0.26 µg kg−1 while AF total ranged between 0.78 ± 0.04 and 445.01 ± 8.9 µg kg−1 constituting approximately 72 (80%). Limits of AFB1 and total aflatoxins (AFtotal) for the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) (5 and 10 µg kg−1) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) (2 and 4 µg kg−1), were used as checks. A total of 33 (41.25%) samples were above the limits for both. Risk assessments recorded for Estimated Daily Intake (EDI), Hazard Quotient (H.Q), Hazard Index (H.I), Margin of Exposure (MOE), av. Potency, and population risks ranged 0.087–0.38 μg kg−1 bw day−1, 1.5–6.9, 0.0087–0.38, 3.64–12.09, 0–0.0396 ng Aflatoxins kg−1 bw day−1 and, 3.5 × 10–1–0.015 respectively for total aflatoxins. While ranges for aflatoxins B1 (AFB1) recorded were 0.068–0.3 μg Kg bw−1 day−1, 2.43–10.64, 0.0068–0.030, 4.73–20.51, 0–0.0396 ng Aflatoxins kg−1 bw day−1 and, 2.69 × 10–3–0.012 for Estimated Daily Intake (EDI), Hazard Quotient (H.Q), Hazard Index (H.I), Margin of Exposure (MOE), Av. potency, and population risks respectively. It was deduced that although there was some observed contamination of maize across the different ecological zones, the consumption of maize (white and colored) posed no adverse health effects on the population of Ghana since computed H.I was less than 1 (< 1).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

The occurrence of aflatoxins and human health risk estimations in randomly obtained maize from some markets in Ghana

Kortei

Annan

Akonor

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The European Union has set the permissible limits of AFB1 as 0.01 µg/kg in processed cereal foods (Blankson, Mills-Robertson, & Ofosu, 2019).…”

Section: Aflatoxin B1mentioning

confidence: 99%

Lactic Acid Bacteria as Antifungal and Anti‐Mycotoxigenic Agents: A Comprehensive Review

Sadiq

Yan

Tian

et al. 2019

Comp Rev Food Sci Food Safe

218

111

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Fungal contamination of food and animal feed, especially by mycotoxigenic fungi, is not only a global food quality concern for food manufacturers, but it also poses serious health concerns because of the production of a variety of mycotoxins, some of which present considerable food safety challenges. In today's mega‐scale food and feed productions, which involve a number of processing steps and the use of a variety of ingredients, fungal contamination is regarded as unavoidable, even good manufacturing practices are followed. Chemical preservatives, to some extent, are successful in retarding microbial growth and achieving considerably longer shelf‐life. However, the increasing demand for clean label products requires manufacturers to find natural alternatives to replace chemically derived ingredients to guarantee the clean label. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), with the status generally recognized as safe (GRAS), are apprehended as an apt choice to be used as natural preservatives in food and animal feed to control fungal growth and subsequent mycotoxin production. LAB species produce a vast spectrum of antifungal metabolites to inhibit fungal growth; and also have the capacity to adsorb, degrade, or detoxify fungal mycotoxins including ochratoxins, aflatoxins, and Fusarium toxins. The potential of many LAB species to circumvent spoilage associated with fungi has been exploited in a variety of human food and animal feed stuff. This review provides the most recent updates on the ability of LAB to serve as antifungal and anti‐mycotoxigenic agents. In addition, some recent trends of the use of LAB as biopreservative agents against fungal growth and mycotoxin production are highlighted.

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“…Throughout sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), certain Aspergillus species frequently contaminate with aflatoxins several staple crops, including maize and groundnut (Shephard, 2008; Udomkun et al, 2017). In SSA, human and animal aflatoxin exposure is high (JECFA, 2018; Sirma et al, 2018; Blankson et al, 2019). Consumption of highly contaminated food can result in acute health effects such as liver diseases and death (Gieseker, 2004; Probst et al, 2010; Kamala et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Ground-Truthing” Efficacy of Biological Control for Aflatoxin Mitigation in Farmers’ Fields in Nigeria: From Field Trials to Commercial Usage, a 10-Year Study

et al. 2019

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In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), diverse fungi belonging to Aspergillus section Flavi frequently contaminate staple crops with aflatoxins. Aflatoxins negatively impact health, income, trade, food security, and development sectors. Aspergillus flavus is the most common causal agent of contamination. However, certain A. flavus genotypes do not produce aflatoxins (i.e., are atoxigenic). An aflatoxin biocontrol technology employing atoxigenic genotypes to limit crop contamination was developed in the United States. The technology was adapted and improved for use in maize and groundnut in SSA under the trademark Aflasafe. Nigeria was the first African nation for which an aflatoxin biocontrol product was developed. The current study includes tests to assess biocontrol performance across Nigeria over the past decade. The presented data on efficacy spans years in which a relatively small number of maize and groundnut fields (8–51 per year) were treated through use on circa 36,000 ha in commercially-produced maize in 2018. During the testing phase (2009–2012), fields treated during one year were not treated in the other years while during commercial usage (2013–2019), many fields were treated in multiple years. This is the first report of a large-scale, long-term efficacy study of any biocontrol product developed to date for a field crop. Most (>95%) of 213,406 tons of maize grains harvested from treated fields contained <20 ppb total aflatoxins, and a significant proportion (>90%) contained <4 ppb total aflatoxins. Grains from treated plots had preponderantly >80% less aflatoxin content than untreated crops. The frequency of the biocontrol active ingredient atoxigenic genotypes in grains from treated fields was significantly higher than in grains from control fields. A higher proportion of grains from treated fields met various aflatoxin standards compared to grains from untreated fields. Results indicate that efficacy of the biocontrol product in limiting aflatoxin contamination is stable regardless of environment and cropping system. In summary, the biocontrol technology allows farmers across Nigeria to produce safer crops for consumption and increases potential for access to premium markets that require aflatoxin-compliant crops.

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Survey of occurrence levels of Aflatoxins in selected locally processed cereal-based foods for human consumption from Ghana

Cited by 32 publications

References 16 publications

The occurrence of aflatoxins and human health risk estimations in randomly obtained maize from some markets in Ghana

The occurrence of aflatoxins and human health risk estimations in randomly obtained maize from some markets in Ghana

Lactic Acid Bacteria as Antifungal and Anti‐Mycotoxigenic Agents: A Comprehensive Review

“Ground-Truthing” Efficacy of Biological Control for Aflatoxin Mitigation in Farmers’ Fields in Nigeria: From Field Trials to Commercial Usage, a 10-Year Study

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