Liquid chromatographic determination of aflatoxins

The difurancoumarin derivatives known as aflatoxins are highly toxic fungi metabolites belonging to the vast class of mycotoxins, which can contaminate foods and feeds when storage conditions favor fungal growth. Because of potential health hazards for humans, levels of aflatoxins are monitored throughout the world. During the past two decades several chromatographic and other methods were developed for identification and determination of aflatoxins in agricultural and food products. This paper is a review of the overpressured-layer chromatographic (OPLC) and high performance liquid chromatographic methods most often used for the analysis of aflatoxins. However, emphasis is placed on summarizing the OPLC methods developed for determination of aflatoxins in maize, wheat, fish meat, peanut samples, rice and sunflower seeds spiked with aflatoxins B-1, B-2, G(1) and G(2) in concentration of 2-10 mug/cm(3), which were developed in our laboratory. The results of the proposed validation procedure, whose development was based on the guideline of the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) for pharmaceutical products (1994, Brussels), for the determination of the above-mentioned aflatoxins in wheat samples are also presented. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.