Mould and mycotoxin exposure assessment of melon and bush mango seeds, two common soup thickeners co
Authors:
ODUTAYO Foluke
Publication Type: Journal article
Journal:
ISSN Number:
0
Downloads
19
Views
Abstract
Abstract
An examination of the mould and fungal metabolite pattern in melon and bush mango seeds locally produced in
Nigeria was undertaken in order to understand the mycotoxicological risk posed to consumers of both of these
important and commonly consumed soup thickeners. The variation in mycotoxin levels in graded categories of
both foodstuffs were also determined. Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium, Mucorales and Trichoderma were the recovered
fungi from the foodstuffs with Aspergillus species dominating (melon = 97.8%; bush mango = 89.9%).
Among the Aspergillus species identified Aspergillus section Flavi dominated (melon: 72%; bush mango: 57%)
and A. flavus, A. parasiticus, A. parvisclerotigenus and A. tamarii were the recovered species. About 56% and 73%
of the A. flavus isolates from melon and bush mango seed samples, respectively were aflatoxigenic. Thirty-four
and 59 metabolites including notable mycotoxins were found in the melon and bush mango seeds respectively.
Mean aflatoxin levels (μg/kg) in melon (aflatoxin B1 (AFB1)=37.5 and total aflatoxins=142) and bush mango
seeds (AFB1=68.1 and total aflatoxins=61.7) were higher than other mycotoxins, suggesting potential higher
exposure for consumer populations. Significantly (p b 0.05) higher levels of mycotoxins were found in handpeeled
melon and discoloured bush mango seeds than in machine-peeled melon and non-discoloured seeds except
for HT-2 and T-2 toxins which occurred conversely. All melon and bush mango seeds exceeded the 2 μg/kg
AFB1 limitwhereas all melon and 55% of bush mango seeds exceeded the 4 μg/kg total aflatoxin EU limit adopted
inNigeria. This is the first report of (1) mycotoxin co-occurrence in bushmango seeds, (2) cyclopiazonic acid, HT-
2 toxin, moniliformin, mycophenolic acid, T-2 toxin and tenuazonic acid occurrence, and (3) mycotoxin exposure
assessment of both foodstuffs.