Nitin Chauhan

By Nitin Mahendra Chauhan

Aflatoxins contamination of African food and food commodities exhibits a serious threat to human and animal health over the past few decades. To protect the safety of food commodities, regular monitoring for afltoxins has began to implicate in developing countries. The food contaminating species Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus are responsible for production of aflatoxins. Various studies have followed ELISA, TLC, HPLC, immunoassay, etc for quantification of aflatoxins. The data from different reports demonstrate that staple foods in most countries are particularly vulnerable to attack by aflatoxigenic fungi and found contaminated with aflatoxins. In our study from Ethiopia, we have utilized a quick and precise biosensor and thin layer chromatography method to measure contamination of aflatoxins in maize. Our data revealed that all the samples tested were greater than the safety level of aflatoxins as recommended by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Union (EU). Utilization of internationally developed biosensor for presence of fungal toxin in food samples is the first approach that was applied in the developing country like Ethiopia. In the end, we conclude that fungal contaminants and there toxic products are potential threat to the agro and food industry in Africa and require immediate control measures.

Part of the book: Aflatoxin