Occurrence of aflatoxin B1 in pistachio nuts during various preparing processes: tracing from Iran

Abstract

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a secondary metabolite produced by some Aspergillus species, which have<br />harmful impacts on human health such as carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, acute and chronic toxicity.<br />In this study, the occurrence of AFB1 in pistachio nuts during various preparing processes was<br />investigated in two pistachio farms from Qazvin province, Iran, from September to November 2012.<br />High Performance detected level of AFB1 and Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) contained<br />fluorescence detector using especial immunoaffinity columns. The results showed that AFB1 was<br />present in the samples (100%) in during pre-harvesting, harvesting and post-harvesting stages. The<br />highest mean value of AFB1 (27.58±2.12 μg/kg) was found in pistachio samples after harvesting<br />process. Forty-six of 84 pistachio nuts (54.76%) in various process periods exceeded the maximum<br />tolerable limit (2μg/kg) that set for AFB1 by European Union regulations. In addition, the results<br />indicated that AFB1 levels in the samples had increased over storage time (P<0.05). As a result, postharvest<br />and storage strategies are the best time to prevent mold growth and aflatoxins production.