Detecting Contamination with Mycotoxins in Local Maize Species Used in Food and Feed

Abstract

This study was conducted to detect contamination with mycotoxins aflatoxin and fumnisin in local corn species used in food and feed, 30 samples of local yellow corn were collected from the markets of Baghdad, 15 samples of corn intended for human consumption and 15 samples of corn intended for consumption as animal feed during spring, summer and autumn seasons from the year 2020, 5 samples per season, The moisture content of the samples was measured and ELISA technique was used to detect the concentrations of mycotoxins in them. The results showed significant differences at (P0.05) between humidity levels and mycotoxin concentrations for different seasons of the year, the high rates of humidity in maize samples intended for food and feed in the spring season recorded 14.34% and 17.22%, respectively, it is higher than the acceptable limits in the Iraqi standard for corn 12-13%, while the highest concentrations of aflatoxin and fumininin in corn for food in the spring were 9.64 and 742 ug / kg, respectively, so is corn for fodder 17.21 and 961.6ug / kg, and the lowest concentrations of mycotoxins for corn in food for the summer were 8.32 for aflatoxin, 353.8 ug / kg for fumnisine, and for feed 11.15 ug / kg for aflatoxin, the lowest concentrations of fumnizine for fodder were recorded in autumn 608 ug / kg, Most of the concentrations of these two fungal toxins were within the acceptable limits in the European and American standards, except for samples C1 and C3 of maize used for food in the spring, it was higher than the acceptable limits, reaching 10.87 and 10.75 ug / kg, respectively.