Incidence and level of aflatoxin contamination in chilli commercialised in Turkey

During the years 2011-2012, a total of 182 chilli samples were collected from two provinces of Turkey and checked for aflatoxins (AFs). The samples were analysed using immunoaffinity column (IAC) cleanup and high performance liquid chromatography coupled to a fluorescence detector (HPLC-FLD) after post-column derivatisation. Quantification limits were 0.111, 0.110, 0.115 and 0.140 mu g kg(-1) for aflatoxin B-1 (AFB(1)), aflatoxin B-2 (AFB(2)), aflatoxin G(1) (AFG(1)) and aflatoxin G(2) (AFG(2)), respectively. Aflatoxins were found in 150 out of 182 analysed samples: one hundred and fifty samples with AFB(1), eighty-four samples with AFB(2) and thirty-two samples with AFG(1). No AFG(2) were detected in chilli samples above the quantification limit of 0.14 mu g kg(-1). The ranges for positive samples were 0.24-165 mu g AFB(1) kg(-1), 0.15-11.3 mu g AFB(2) kg(-1) and 0.15-3.88 mu g AFG(1) kg(-1). Fifty and thirty-five samples of chilli exceeded the legal limits of 5 and 10 mu g kg(-1) established by European Commission for AFB(1) and total AFs (the sum of AFB(1), AFB(2), AFG(1) and AFG(2)), respectively. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.