Fungal Profiles and Total Aflatoxin Concentrations in Rice and Animal Feeds Sold in Katsina Metropolis, Northwestern Nigeria: An Exploratory Market Survey
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54987/jebat.v9i1.207Keywords:
Aflatoxin, Aspergillus, Animal Feed, Food safety, RiceAbstract
In warm tropical climates, aflatoxin exposure is a food and feed safety concern where cereals and compounded feeds may be exposed to moisture, heat and prolonged storage. The present exploratory survey assessed the total aflatoxin and culturable fungi in five commodity samples collected from three markets in Katsina Metropolis, Nigeria. The samples were local rice, imported rice, local rice, chicken feed and fish feed. Fungi were isolated by direct plating on chloramphenicol-supplemented potato dextrose agar and provisionally identified based on colony and microscopic morphology. The methanolic extracts were assayed by silica-gel thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and the total aflatoxin was determined by competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in triplicate. Representative morphotypes identified included Aspergillus fumigatus (local rice and chicken feed stored), A. parasiticus (local rice), A. niger (imported rice) and A. flavus (fish feed). Fluorescent zones were produced by TLC with Rf values of 0.13-0.36. Without the use of authenticated co-spotted standards and confirmatory chromatography these observations were treated as presumptive and not subtype specific. ELISA measurements reported concentrations ranging from 0.633 ± 0.152 to 1.423 ± 0.049 µg/kg, with the highest mean concentration in stored local rice and the lowest in imported rice. As only one market sample was analyzed for each commodity–location combination, the measurements are descriptive of the samples analyzed and do not provide estimates of market prevalence. However, the findings support the need for larger, adequately replicated surveillance using validated matrix-specific extraction, quality controls and confirmatory liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, with concurrent fungal contamination and measurable total aflatoxin.
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