Vol. 6, Issue 3 (2018)
Determination of total aflatoxin in maize and maize products sold in some retail outlets in Zaria
Author(s): Agboola M, Ahmed AY, Umoh VJ and Whong CMZ
Abstract: Determination of total aflatoxin in maize and maize products sampled from some retail outlets in Zaria was determined by ELISA method. A total of 300 samples was collected during both seasons, 150 samples each of maize grain and maize flour was collected for both dry and wet seasons. The data obtained was subjected to student ‘s T test and a one way analysis of variance to compare the statistical difference between maize grain and maize flour within the season and the aflatoxin level within the products. The predominant mycoflora of the maize grain and maize flour were; Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus parasiticus, Penicillum sp, Fusarium sp and Rhizopus sp. Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus were the most isolated in all the outlets. Similarly, Frequency of occurence of fungal isolates on maize grain shows that Aspergillus parasiticus had the highest percentage occurrence (48%) during the wet seasons compared to its frequency of occurence of 32.11% in the dry season. On the other hand, Rhizopus spp had lowest occurence of 1.32% on maize grain in the wet season and did not occurred at all during the dry season. Generally, Penicillium spp exhibited the highest frequency of occurence (44.44%) on maize flour. The number of positive samples for aflatoxin on maize grain was 33 (22%) and maize flour was 21 (14%). Quantitation of total aflatoxin in maize grain shows that Yannika recorded highest aflatoxin level of 2.2 (ppb) and 2.8 (ppb) during dry and wet seasons respectively. On the other hand, maize flour had aflatoxin levels of 0.30 (ppb) and 0.70 (ppb) during dry and wet season. Practices by local processors that involves simultaneous storage of maize grain as well as milling processes in the same area could be the major cause of the higher mould and aflatoxin contamination, therefore from this study individuals should be educated on proper hygiene and on the health problems associated with consumption of product that are contaminated with aflatoxin
Pages: 564-569 | 595 Views 61 Downloads
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How to cite this article:
Agboola M, Ahmed AY, Umoh VJ, Whong CMZ. Determination of total aflatoxin in maize and maize products sold in some retail outlets in Zaria. Int J Chem Stud 2018;6(3):564-569.
