Studies on contamination level of aflatoxins in some cereals and beans of Pakistan

The occurrence of aflatoxins in some cereals and beans was surveyed in this study. One hundred and sixty samples of cereals and beans were purchased from retail shops and local markets of different locations in Pakistan. The samples were analyzed for total aflatoxins to using immune affinity (IAC) clean up with liquid chromatography and fluorescence detection. The results showed the percentage of contamination for total aflatoxins in the samples such as in; rice (25%), broken rice (15%), wheat (20%), maize (40%) barley (20%) and sorghum (30%), while in red kidney beans (20%), split peas (27%), chick pea (10%), cow pea (20%), and soybean (15%). The highest contamination levels of aflatoxins were found in one wheat sample (15.5 μg/kg), one maize sample (13.0 μg/kg) and one barley sample (12.6 μg/kg). Among all the contaminated samples, two rice, one rice broken, two wheat, three maize, two barley, one sorghum, one red kidney beans, one split peas and two soybeans were above the suggested limit for total aflatoxins (4 μg/kg), set by EU regulations.