Growth and production of aflatoxins by a flavus in aqueous fruit extracts of pepper, okra and tomato

Abstract

The growth of A. flavus and its potential to produce aflatoxins in aqueous fruit extracts of pepper, tomato and okra were studied using conventional mycological techniques, and high performance liquid chromatographic analysis. At the end of the incubation period the maximum dry weight of 225±2.89mg was observed in tomato extract, whilst the lowest growth (73.3±3.33mg) was achieved in okra extract. In all the samples analyzed, aflatoxins G1 and G2 were completely absent, however over 60% filtrates of the fruits extracts were contaminated with aflatoxin B1. The highest amount (105.34μg/kg) of aflatoxin B1 was recorded in amended pepper extract whilst the least (0.85μg/kg) of aflatoxin B2 was recorded in the amended tomatoes extract. Only the pure tomato extract was contaminated with aflatoxin B1, no aflatoxins were also detected in pure extracts of pepper and okra. The implications of these findings on the health of both humans and animals are discussed