Reducing aflatoxins failures in chilli across the value Chain

Aflatoxin is one of the mycotoxins released by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. It is carcinogenic and has stringent regulations in terms of residue limit across the globe. Various food commodities like chilli, groundnut, maize and nutmeg are susceptible to aflatoxin and face challenges in meeting the residue limits set by various importing countries. ITC Limited, an FMCG Conglomerate in India, specializes in catering to the demands of the food safe spices across the globe. In previous seasons, it was observed that a significant portion of the produce procured from farm fails to meet the set limits of aflatoxin. The present work bridges the gap in efficiency by a statistical approach to reduce the post buy failure due to aflatoxin (drying operation) from 7.59% to 2%.