Aflatoxin - control, analysis, detection and health risks
Loading...
Date
2017-09-01
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
InTech Open
Abstract
Aflatoxins are a group of highly toxic and carcinogenic substances, which occur naturally, and can be found in food substances. Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites of certain strains of the fungi Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus and the less common A. nomius. Aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 are the most important members, which can be categorized into two groups according to the chemical structure, namely, difurocoumarocyclopentenone series and ifurocoumarolactone. Of the 20 aflatoxins identified so far, only aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 are known to occur naturally and B and G classes refer to the blue and green fluorescence emitted by their metabolites under ultraviolet (UV) light, and the subtype 1 and subtype 2 imply the major and minor compounds, respectively. Aflatoxins fluoresce strongly under UV radiation (ca. 365 nm). The most common food commodities affected by aflatoxins are cereals (corn, wheat, barley, maize, oats, and rye), nuts (hazelnut, peanut, and pistachio nut), dried fruits (fig), and spices (chili powder). Aflatoxins pose a potential threat to human and animal health through the consumption, contact, or inhalation of foodstuffs and
feedstuffs prepared from these commodities. As a result of the adverse health effects of mycotoxins, their levels have been strictly regulated especially in food and feed samples. Therefore, their accurate identification and determination remain a Herculean task due to their presence in complex food matrices. The great public concern and the strict legislation incited the development of reliable, specific, selective, and sensitive analytical methods for mycotoxins monitoring that are discussed in this book.
The book comprises 12 chapters. Chapters 1 to 4 discuss the control and prevention of aflatoxin contaminations in foods, and Chapters 5 to 10 discuss the health risk posed by aflatoxin contaminations in food, while Chapters 11 and 12 discuss the new development in the analysis and detection of aflatoxins in food samples. The book contains up-to-date publications of leading experts, and, therefore, it is hoped that the reference cited by various authors will be a starting point to acquire a deeper knowledge on the prevention, control, identification, and determination of aflatoxins in foods and feedstuffs.
I gratefully acknowledge the efforts and expertise of the contributing authors for their time and efforts in preparing the chapters and for their interest in the book project.
I am indebted to the vice chancellor of Kwara State University, Malete, Ilorin, Nigeria, Prof. Abdul Rasheed Na’Allah and all the academic staff of the Department of Chemistry for the support and encouragement. I also acknowledge the support of my wife (Mrs. Rihanat Abdulra’uf), my children, and my colleagues at the School of Basic and Remedial Studies, Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin, Nigeria, for their unwavering support and encouragement during the chapter review process.
My special appreciation and thanks go to the editorial team and publishing manager of InTechOpen Publisher for their promptness, encouragement, and patience during the review and publication process.
Dr. Lukman Bola Abdulra’uf
Department of Chemistry,
College of Pure and Applied Sciences,
Kwara State University,
Malete, Nigeria
Description
Keywords
Citation
Abdulrauf, L. B. (Ed) (2017): Aflatoxin - control, analysis, detection and health risks. Rijeka, Croatia: Published by InTech Open. Print ISBN 978-953-51-3457-2, Online ISBN 978-953-51-3458-9 Available online at https://www.intechopen.com/books/5956