No abstract

A simple, rapid and economical minicolumn packed with "lahar" (a local adsorbent material) and Florisil, previously developed for aflatoxins in copra meal, was adopted for corn. at the detection limit of 5 ƒÊg/kg of aflatoxin.

Aflatoxin research in the Philippines started at the FNRI in 1967 with a survey on the aflatoxin content of various foods. Local researchers from government institutions and academe also conducted studies on the aflatoxin contamination of agricultural crops and their products/by-products. The data indicated that corn and peanuts are the two commodities that contain toxic levels of aflatoxin. Past and current research in the country is documented. Problems and research needs for the surveillance and/or control of aflatoxin contamination are discussed.

Mycotoxins are fungal metabolites which cause adverse effects in humans and animals when contaminated foods are ingested. In the Philippines, the most studied mycotoxin is the aflatoxin. There is very limited data on other mycotoxins such as fumonisins, ochratoxin, zearalenone, T-2 toxin and deoxynivalenol. In the country, problems on the export commodity copra meal is one of the major concerns due to its high aflatoxin levels which cause rejection of the oil mill by-product by importing countries, particularly in the European Union. National problem involved the local corn produce which shows aflatoxin levels beyond the 20 ƒÊg/kg tolerance limit. Previous studies showed that corn and peanuts are the most susceptible agricultural commodities that contain toxic levels of aflatoxin.