MONITORING OF AFLATOXIN M1 IN SOME DAIRY PRODUCTS IN LOCAL MARKET OF ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT: ATTEMPTS FOR DETOXIFICATION

Aflatoxins are carcinogenic and toxic metabolites produced by a variety of molds. Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) accumulates in animal livers and it is excreted in milk, which can be consumed by human. The present study was undertaken aiming at examining the dairy milk products for their any contamination of AFM1 in Alexandria local market, Egypt, as well as conducting trials for elimination of AFM1 contamination by using ozone gas and gamma radiation. Levels of AFM1 contamination (0.001 to 0.06 g/l ) were ranged from in examined milk and dairy products. The maximum levels were contamination in raw and pasteurized milk while minimum levels were detected in infant milk. The result indicated that yoghurt processing decreases or even eliminates the presence of AFM1, which may be attributed to some factors such as low pH, formation of organic acids or other fermented by-products. Treatment of contaminated liquid milk by ozone gas resulted in a decrease or even loss in the contents of AFM1. However, ozone treatment for 10 minutes was the effective interval for complete elimination of contamination, but resulted in coagulates milk protein and changed the odor. Thus, it can be stated that ozone gas was a non-convenient method for complete detoxification of milk and dairy products. Treatment by gamma radiation (with a dose of 10 kGy) was found to be more suitable as a detoxification procedure than ozone treatment as there were no change in properties of milk upon treatment.