Mycotoxins in food from Jordan: Preliminary survey

This study was undertaken to determine the presence of mycotoxins in foods from Jordan. For this purpose, a total of 108 samples of different groups of foods widely consumed by the Jordanian population were collected during 2008–2009 years. Samples were analyzed for contamination with aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, deoxynivalenol, fumonisins, zearalenone and T-2 toxin by direct competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The predominant mycotoxin was ochratoxin A with a mean level of 4.17 μg kg−1 in 25% of analyzed samples. Furthermore, aflatoxins, deoxynivalenol and fumonisins were detected with a contamination frequency of 3%, 4% and 2%, respectively. The present report is the first one ever carried out on the occurrence of mycotoxins in food consumed by the Jordanian population.