Αφλατοξίνες

Η μεταπτυχιακή εργασία της Δρος Μ. Γεωργιάδου ασχολείται με τη μόλυνση των ελληνικών κελυφωτών φυστικιών με αφλατοξίνη και πραγματοποιήθηκε σε όλες τις φάσεις παραγωγής, από την αρχή της ωρίμανσης μέχρι και την αποθήκευση. Σκοπός της μελέτης ήταν να προσδιοριστεί το στάδιο που παράγεται η αφλατοξίνη, πως εξελίσεται η μόλυνση κατά τη διάρκεια των σταδίων παραγωγής και επεξεργασίας, κάτω από ποιες συνθήκες και ποιες πρακτικές, με απώτερο στόχο να ληφθούν τα κατάλληλα μέτρα πριν ή/και μετά τη συγκομιδή, ώστε να μειωθεί η συγκέντρωση αφλατοξίνης στο τελικό προϊόν στα αποδεκτά όρια.

ABSTRACT: Pistachio fruit components, including hulls (mesocarps and epicarps), seed coats (testas), and kernels (seeds), all contribute to variable aflatoxin content in pistachios. Fresh pistachio kernels were individually inoculated with Aspergillus flavus and incubated 7 or 10 days. Hulled, shelled kernels were either left intact or wounded prior to inoculation. Wounded kernels, with or without the seed coat, were readily colonized by A. flavus and after 10 days of incubation contained 37 times more aflatoxin than similarly treated unwounded kernels.

ABSTRACT: The distribution of aflatoxin concentration has been measured by sampling 19 process streams ranging from 1 to 1000 nuts/sample. The 19 streams comprise substantially the entire sorted product of one producer for crop year 1992. Similar results were obtained by another producer for 1993. The fraction of total aflatoxin accounted for by each process stream was computed. It was concluded that 90% of aflatoxin is contained in 4.6% of (low-quality) product; removal of this product would reduce average aflatoxin from 1.2 to 0.12 ng/g for all product sold for human consumption.

ABSTRACT: The occurrence of aflatoxins in dried fruits and nuts was surveyed in this study. One hundred and eighty samples of dried fruits and nuts were purchased from retail shops and local markets of different locations of NWFP and Northern areas of Pakistan. The samples were analyzed for total aflatoxins by immune affinity (IAC) clean-up with liquid chromatography and fluorescence detection.

ABSTRACT: A survey of the fungal contamination and occurrence of aflatoxins and ochratoxin A (OTA) in 50 pistachio nut samples collected from commercial stores around Catalonia (Spain) was carried out. Aspergillus flavus was found in 30% of samples, whereas Aspergillus section Nigri, Aspergillus ochraceus, and Penicillium verrucosum were found in 40%, 2% and 26% of samples, respectively. A total of 204 fungal isolates were obtained; 70.8% of A. flavus isolates were able to produce aflatoxin B1 and B2, whereas OTA production capacity was detected in 54.4% of the A.