Occurrence of Aflatoxins in Maize Grains from Central Areas of Punjab, Pakistan

Mycotoxins (Mis) are natural contaminants of food and feed, chiefly produced by moulds of genera Penicillum, Aspergillus, and Fusarium and are toxic to humans and animals. Aflatoxins are toxic metabolites produced mainly by Aspergillus flavus, parasiticus and nomius Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a potent carcinogen, teratogen and mutagen. Forty samples of maize grains were collected randomly from urban, semi-urban and rural areas. These were ground to 20 mesh and extracted using 100 mL mixture of acetonitrile and water (84:16). The filtered extract was cleaned up with MycoSep # 226 column. The presence of aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1 & G2) was determined by using reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) using fluorescent detection system. Out of 40 maize samples, 34 were found contaminated with aflatoxins. The percentage of aflatoxins contamination in maize samples was 80%, 87% and 90% with their respective mean values of 45 ^g kg-1, 54 ^g kg-1 and 62 ^g kg-1 in urban, semi-urban and rural areas, respectively. The method proposed in this study is convenient either for routine analysis or for research purposes. © 2010 Friends Science Publishers