Aflatoxin contamination in Haitian peanut products and maize and the safety of oil processed from contaminated peanuts

作者：Schwartzbord Jeremy R^*; Brown Dan L

来源：Food Control, 2015, 56: 114-118.

DOI：10.1016/j.foodcont.2015.03.014

• Aflatoxins
• Contamination
• Haiti
• Peanuts
• Maize
• Edible oil

The primary objective of this study was to monitor aflatoxin contamination in Haitian samples of raw peanuts (n = 21), peanut butters (n = 32), and maize (n = 30) obtained in Port-au-Prince and Cap Haitien, Haiti, during 2012 and 2013. Our secondary objective was to explore a process that uses a locally produced Haitian spirit (clarin) to transform oil from contaminated peanuts into a safe, edible product. Immuno-affinity column chromatography and fluorometry (VICAM Aflatest) detected aflatoxins in 14%, 97%, and 30% of raw peanuts, peanut butters, and maize samples, respectively, and the concentration of total aflatoxins was greatest in peanut butters (median: 137 mu g/kg, maximum: 2720 mu g/kg). The concentration of aflatoxin in extracted oil was on average 10% of that in un-extracted oil which, in turn, had a concentration that was only 5% of the original contaminated peanuts. Therefore, aflatoxin concentration in the final product was 99.5% less than that found in the original peanuts, even without pre-filtration. Our extraction experiments testing laboratory-grade ethanol and clarin provide evidence that the latter can serve as a low-cost alternative to effectively reduce aflatoxin concentrations in oil pressed from high aflatoxin peanuts.

• 出版日期2015-10