Aflatoxin contamination of Groundnut Farid Waliyar Peter Craufurd, T Yellamanda Reddy, Tim Wheeler, K Subramanyam, A Subramaniam, Balaraju, Gareth McGay, A Brown, R S S Hopper

Aflatoxin contamination of Groundnut Introduction Importance of aflatoxin 1. Groundnut and other by products 2. Health 3. Market Detection of aflatoxins.

Inoduction Aflatoxins are produced by Aspergillus flavus / A. parasiticus

Efect of aflatoxin on crops Many crops are affected Maize, Groundnut, Soybean, Cotton, Chili etc.. Can occur at all levels of crop production: – Pre-harvest, harvest, and storage

Effects of Aflatoxin on crops (conted) Deteriorate quality Oil/groundnut cake Contaminated food / feed can affect human and animal health Important for International trade

Effects of Aflatoxin on crops (contd) Contamination in haulms – Small pods not collected Fed to the cattle – Affect animal Health Haulms/pods – 31% contained >30 μ g/kg ( μ g/kg)

Aflatoxin in Milk Milk Cattle fed with contaminated feeds – Haulms – Groundnut or cotton cakes – Maize Aflatoxin B 1 → M 1 – Just as toxic – ELISA test developed (antibodies)

Aflatoxin in Milk As the main source of contamination are small pods Aflatoxin M1 can be present in the milk Milk analyzed from buffaloes fed with haulms/small pods showed 22.5% of samples had >0.5 ng/L of AFM1

Effects of Aflatoxin on health 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.

Effect of aflatoxin on health Human beings and Livestock – Cattle – Poultry Deleterious effects – Teratogenic – Immunosuppressive – Many times enhanced in the presence of hepatitis B and C viruses. – Carcinogenic

Cancers with p53 mutation (NIMS) Lung Liver Pancreas Colon Ovary etc..

The confounding factors Hepatitis B and C Malnutrition Alcoholic liver disease

Marketability Limiting factor for exports to developed countries Regulations are stringent – 4 μ g/kg <: EU – None: Japan Local market and health

Estimation of aflatoxins – Cost-effective technologies required – DFID-flexibility fund – ELISA for aflatoxin detection was developed which reduced the estimation cost Further information and data will be presented later