Many crops are affected Maize, Groundnut, Soybean, Cotton, Chili etc..

• Can occur at all levels of crop production: – Pre-harvest, harvest, and storage

• Deteriorate quality • Oil/groundnut cake • Contaminated food/feed can affect human and animal health • Important for International trade Contamination in haulms – Small pods not collected • Fed to the cattle – Affect animal Health

• Haulms/pods

Milk

• Cattle fed with contaminated feeds

– Haulms – Groundnut or cotton cakes – Maize • Aflatoxin B 1 -> M 1 – Just as toxic

– ELISA test developed (antibodies)

• Adverse effects on human health and livestock

• Blood tests have shown that very high percentage of the population of several countries in Asia and Africa are exposed to aflatoxins

• Affects growth in children in Africa and childhood cirrhosis in India

• Human beings and livestock

– Cattle

– Poultry

• Deleterious effects

– Teratogenic

– Immunosuppressive

– Many times enhanced in the presence of hepatitis B and C viruses

– Carcinogenic, can cause liver and other cancers

• Limiting factor for exports to developed countries

• Regulations are stringent

– 4 µ g/kg <: EU

– None: Japan

Local market and health

• HPLC

• HPTLC

• TLC mini column

• Immunological

• HPLC

– Highly precise estimations

– Very expensive

– Extensive sample clean up

• ELISA

– Results are comparable to HPLC

– Cost-effective

– Simple extraction protocol

– More samples can be analyzed

• Present in soil and air

• Grows over a wide range of temperature (between 10-40 °C) • Thrives at high relative humidity (RH) and kernel moisture content of 10-30%, does not grow at low RH or kernel moisture contents <10%

• Not all strains produce aflatoxin