The Mycotoxin contamination of the imported consumer rice and its producing fungi in Zabol
Authors
Abstract
Introduction:
Introduction: Mycotoxins leave severe harmful effects on human beings’ and animals’ organs and huge economic damages. Different Mycotoxin contamination in cereals, especially in rice, is an important issue in the field of food hygiene and public health of the society. Due to the particular position of rice in the food basket of Iranian households and the high consumption of rice and its derivatives, the present study was conducted to examine the mycotoxin contamination of the imported consumer rice and its producing fungi in Zabol City.
Materials and Methods:
In this research, 123 rice samples were collected using a non-probability convenience sampling method. After measuring the moisture of the rice grains, the samples were examined with regard to fungal contamination. In this study, 4 common rice mycotoxins, including aflatoxin, ochratoxin, zearalenone and deoxynivalenol were examined with the HPLC method. The resulted data were statistically analyzed with the SPSS software.
Results:
The mean moisture of the rice grains was 11.59±0.53. Laboratory analysis showed that of the examined 123 samples, 34 (27.6%) had deep contamination with the fungal invasion of the tissues of rice. The highest contamination was related, respectively, to aspergillus niger (7 cases, 5.7%), aspergillus flavus (5 cases, 4.1%), and penicillium and candida (each 4 cases, 3.3%). Neither of the samples showed mycotoxin contamination over the allowable limit.
Conclusion:
The findings showed that despite the fungal contamination of the samples, mycotoxin contamination was null or close to null in all cases. This result was compatible with the reports of the country’s Standard Organization about the mycotoxin contamination of the imported rice.
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