Evaluation of aflatoxins levels and molecular identification of toxigenic molds in cereals and cereal-derived breakfast foods in Nigeria

In the last decade, there have been an increase in safety concerns on the aflatoxins contents of cereals and cereal-derived food products in Nigeria. In the current study, evaluation of aflatoxins levels and molecular identification of toxigenic molds recovered from cereals and cereal-derived foods products in Nigeria were studied. Enzyme Link Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods were used for qualitative and quantitative aflatoxins evaluation, respectively. The result showed that aflatoxins were detected in 53 out of the 120 samples of the cereals and their products studied. The detected levels of aflatoxins in some of the samples were over the permissible (4 μg/kg) as recommended by relevant food regulatory authorities. Aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 were all detected in the sample, aflatoxin B1 was the most predominant in the samples. Aspergillus flavus (AZ19), was isolated and identified as the major contaminating mold. Thus, findings of this research provide strong evidence that incidence of aflatoxins contamination of food crops still remain a major problem in Nigeria agricultural sector.   Key words: Aflatoxins, toxigenic molds, cereals, cereal-derived foods, Aspergillus flavus.