Occurrence of aflatoxins in various nuts commercialized in Turkey

• Published in: Journal of food safety 2009-02, Vol.29 (1), p.95-105
• Main Authors: Basaran, P, Ozcan, M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural commodities; Arachis hypogaea; Biological and medical sciences; Chromatography; Corylus; food contamination; Food industries; food pathogens; Food safety; Food science; Fruit and vegetable industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; hazelnuts; Hygiene and safety; molds (fungi); Nuts; peanuts; pistachios; Toxins
• ISSN: 0149-6085; 1745-4565
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-4565.2008.00143.x

Nuts are important agricultural commodities in Turkey as they are exported and largely consumed domestically. Two hundred and seventeen samples of hazelnuts, pistachio nuts and peanuts were randomly collected from public markets, bazaars, supermarkets and retail stores in several regions of Turkey and analyzed for the incidence of aflatoxin (B1, B2, G1, G2) contamination by high-performance liquid chromatography. The levels of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and the total aflatoxins in the majority of samples analyzed (87.09%) were so low that they were not quantifiable. Thirty-one samples (14.28%) were found to have low levels of aflatoxins, below the Turkish National regulatory limits of 5 μg/kg for AFB1 and 10 μg/kg for total aflatoxins. However, four samples (1.84%) showed a level of contamination that exceeded the maximum tolerated levels set in the Turkish regulations. The highest value of AFB1 was 36.81 μg/kg in pistachio nuts. This article reports the data of the first survey on the presence of aflatoxins in nuts sampled in three distinct regions of Turkey. The formation of aflatoxins depends not only on the genetic potential of mold strains but also on environmental factors, especially during post-harvest transportation and storage. Although further national surveys must be performed on a regular base, the results of the present study indicate a reduced level of aflatoxin contamination of nut-based products compared to earlier observations. The results conclude that implementation of stricter quality control measures, technical assistance to private sector actors and regulatory initiatives to support employment of these strategies undertaken in recent years by the National Authorities have paid back.