Aspergillus section Flavi and aflatoxins in dried figs and nuts in Algeria

ABSTRACT

The presence of Aspergillus section Flavi and aflatoxin (AF) contamination was investigated in 112 samples of peanuts, almonds and dried figs collected in Algeria. The occurrence of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), B2 (AFB2), G1 (AFG1) and G2 (AFG2) in different commodities has been determined with a sensitive method based on high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with fluorescence detection with post-column photochemical derivatisation. Analytical results indicated that 28 samples of peanuts, 16 samples of almonds and 26 samples of dried figs contained detectable levels of AFs. A total of 69 samples (61.6%) were contaminated with AFB1 ranging from the limit of quantification to 174 µg kg⁻¹. AFB2 was found in 12 samples (10.7%) and varied from 0.18 to 193 µg kg⁻¹. Seven samples revealed AF concentrations lower than the limit of quantification. Eleven peanut and fourteen dried fig samples exceeded the European maximum limits for AFB1.

KEYWORDS:

• Aspergillus
• aflatoxins
• HPLC
• nuts
• dried figs
• Algeria

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Project ref: AGL2015-70708-R).