Evaluation of Aflatoxins contamination in barley feeds distributed in Mashhad city, Iran

Aflatoxins (AFs) are toxic metabolites that produced predominantly by three species of Aspergillus. Current study was conducted to determine quantity of AFs in barley feed.

A total of 97 samples were analyzed with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The method was based on extraction of finely ground samples by methanol as solvent. An aliquot of 20 µl of extract was injected to HPLC after filtration. Aflatoxins were detected by ZORBAX Eclipse XDB C18 column (150×4.6×5 µm). Mobile phase of water:methanol:acetonitrile (60:20:20 v/v/v) at linear gradient mode and flow rate of 1 ml min-1 was used. Experiments were done at excitation and emission wavelengths of 365 and 445 nm, respectively, after post-column UV derivatisation.

The obtained results showed that AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2 were detected in 19, 9, 4 and 1 samples, respectively. Relatively low LOD and LOQ were achieved in our analytical approach that approved a desirable goodness of fit for the analysis. Trueness was examined by determination of the relative recoveries of AFs that were quite good. This survey provides valuable information on aflatoxin contamination in barely feed products marketed in Mashhad city.