Investigation of total aflatoxins in consumed rice at mashhad city in the Summer and Winter

Aflatoxins are among toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic secondary metabolites produced primarily by Aspergillus flavus and A.parasiticus. Consumption of aflatoxic foods is associated with several cases of human poisoning, or aflatoxicosis, sometimes resulting in death. Rice is one of the most important crops for human feeding, which is susceptible to aflatoxins contamination. 60 rice samples were collected from 5 states across Mashhad commercial market. The aflatoxin concentration range, was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. The results showed that almost all samples collected contained aflatoxins. AfB1 and AfB2 concentration in rice were found to be 2.55 and 0.34 µg/kg respectively; AfG1 and AfG2 were lower than detection limit. The concentration of AFB1 was more than regulated maximum amount allowed in foodstuffs of Iran in 8.3% of the samples.