Ultra-fast RP-HPLC-FD-DAD for quantification of total aflatoxins in maize, rice, wheat, peanut and poultry feed without sample clean up, and population exposure risk assessment in Katsina, Nigeria: an optimization study

Abstract

This study reports the development and validation of a simple, yet efficient method called the ultra-fast reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence and photodiode array detector (UF-RP-HPLC-FD-DAD) to extract and quantify the total aflatoxin from grains and poultry feed. The proposed method is used to determine the total aflatoxin content in 150 samples of maize, rice, wheat, peanut and poultry feed obtained from open markets in a state in Nigeria. The extent of consumer exposure to aflatoxins and the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are evaluated. The UF-RP-HPLC-FD-DAD method was found to be satisfactorily accurate, sensitive and reliable as ascertained by its excellent validation outcomes (R² > 0.999, LoD < 0.08 ng g⁻¹, LoQ < 0.2 ng g⁻¹, recovery = 90–102%). The aflatoxin levels in food grains and poultry feed samples obtained in this study implied a moderate dietary exposure of between 10.67 and 20.77 ng/kg BW/day, in which the risk of developing HCC was estimated to be between 6.27 and 21.40% per 100,000 adults/year. Hence, greater monitoring of marketed food and feed is required, besides the deployment of strict controls and preventive techniques to minimize the population’s exposure to a high dietary level of aflatoxins.

Keywords:

• Aflatoxin detection
• dietary exposure risk assessment
• food contaminant
• food security
• fluorescence detector
• photodiode array detector

Acknowledgment

The authors are grateful to Mr. Wan Mohd Sahnusi Wan Alias and Mr. Ahmad Auzan Azhar for helping out with the experiment.

Conflicts of interests

We declare there is no conflict of interest between authors or with others in any aspect.

Additional information

Funding

This study is supported by the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (Project Code: FRGS/1/2019/SKK06/USM/03/1) from the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia.