Assessment of aflatoxin levels in herbal green tea available on the Moroccan market

Determination of Fungi and Multi-Class Mycotoxins in Camelia sinensis and Herbal Teas and Dietary Exposure Assessment

“…The results for the AFB 1 contamination found in the mycotoxin-positive samples were comparable to the screening results reported in a study on green teas from Moroccan markets, where concentrations from 1.8 to 41.8 µg kg −1 were found [11]. This study indicated a higher prevalence of AFB 2 and other AFs, ranging from 1.20 to 75.41 µg kg −1 in these Moroccan teas [11] compared to the results of the current study, where AFs B 2 , G 1 , and G 2 were present in only a few samples at low concentrations (≤2.55 µg kg −1 ). The low AF prevalence in green teas was in good agreement with the results of a study from Spain, which also indicated a low prevalence of AFB 1 in commercial green teas [52].…”

“…The calculated levels of the detection and quantification (LODs and LOQs) were comparable with the sensitivities reported in studies based on sample preparation using offline SPE methodologies or dispersive SPE (QuEChERS) approaches, and detection methods that primarily use HPLC-MS/MS and other MS techniques [2,11,12]. The estimated LOQ for AFB 1 was 1.8 times lower than the LOQ (0.08 µg kg −1 ) reported by another recent study [10].…”

“…The estimated LOQ for AFB 1 was 1.8 times lower than the LOQ (0.08 µg kg −1 ) reported by another recent study [10]. The overall performance of the method used in the present study was similar or superior to 1D-LC-MS methods recently reported for multi-mycotoxin analysis in teas [11,12].…”

“…Recent studies of commercial black and green teas based on routine laboratory analyses using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) and fluorescence detectors (FLD) indicated high rates of storage-related mycotoxins, such as aflatoxins (AFs) and ochratoxin A (OTA), which were found in dry tea leaves and into their infusions [8][9][10]. Mannani et al (2020) reported that more than half of all tested green tea samples (59%, n = 76) from a Moroccan tea market were positive for aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ) and other AFs [11]. In 29.5% and 9.3% of the cases, the concentrations of AFB 1 and the sum of aflatoxins B 1 , G 1 , B 2 , and G 2 exceeded the maximum limits of 5 and 10 µg kg −1 set for these mycotoxins in Morocco [11].…”

Prevalence and Exposure Assessment of Aflatoxins Through Black Tea Consumption in the Multan City of Pakistan and the Impact of Tea Making Process on Aflatoxins

“…In China, the mean concentration of AFB 1 in the samples of raw pu-erh tea and ripe pu-erh tea was 8.33 and 20.149 µg/kg, respectively (Li et al, 2015). Mannani et al (2019) investigated the concentration of aflatoxins in herbal green tea samples collected from the Moroccan market. Out of 129 analyzed samples, 76 samples were found positive for aflatoxins ranging between 1.8 and 116.2 µg/kg.…”