Mycotoxin Contamination in Stored Maize and Groundnuts Based on Storage Practices and Conditions in Subhumid Tropical Africa: The Case of Kilosa District, Tanzania

Abstract

Experiments were conducted to assess the influence of storage practices on mycotoxin incidences in stored maize and groundnuts in Kilosa District, Eastern Central Tanzania. Factorial experiments were used to test the effects of processing, storage conditions, and protectants at 3-month intervals for 12 weeks. Temperature and relative humidity data were recorded by using data loggers. The differences among the treatment means were compared using Tukey's honestly significant difference test at 5% probability level. The log-linear model was used to determine the influence of weather on mycotoxin. Dried neem ( Azadirachta indica ) leaves significantly reduced fumonisin B (FB) in stored maize. Levels of FB were significantly higher in maize heaped on the floor than in the other tested storage methods (P < 0.001). Similarly, aflatoxin levels were significantly higher in groundnuts stored in nylon bags than in the other tested methods (P < 0.001). The high concentration of mycotoxins at the study villages suggests that storage practices and weather conditions play major roles in mycotoxin production.

The aflatoxin situation in Africa: Systematic literature review

“…The included studies that investigated peanuts all reported AFB 1 concentrations in peanuts to be relatively high (> 15 µg/kg set by Codex Alimentarius [hereinafter: “CODEX”]), with only samples from Algeria having a lower mean concentration of 6.3 µg/kg (Magembe, Mwatawala, & Mamiro, 2016a; Magembe, Mwatawala, & Mamiro, 2016b; Magembe, Mwatawala, Mamiro, & Chingonikaya, 2016c; Oyedele et al., 2017; Riba, Matmoura, Mokrane, Mathieu, & Sabaou, 2013). Mean AFB 1 concentrations in African dishes, such as ogiri, kuru‐kuru, and dagwa, were found to be > 5 µg/kg, while AFB 1 concentrations in peanut cake ranged from 13 to 2,824 µg/kg.…”

Update on mycotoxin contamination of maize and peanuts in East African Community Countries

“…Another study conducted to determine afl atoxin contamination in Peanuts in Busia Co-occurrence of Fusarium toxins was also reported with 30 samples or 50% of samples having fumonisins with DON, 10 samples or 17% having DON with HT-2 toxin, 13 samples or 22% having fumonisins with HT-2 toxin, and 2 samples or 3% having DON and ZEN [66].Another study conducted in Kilosa District, Tanzania revealed that maize had fumonisins B 1 contamination ranging from 63.26 ppb to 213.15 ppb. High Afl atoxin contamination was reported in groundnuts ranging from 72.97 ppb to 195.17 ppb which is higher than the 10 ppb limit for EAC countries[23].…”

“…Afl atoxins and Fumonisins are the most widely spread, detected, and researched mycotoxins occurring in maize and peanuts in the East Africa community region and Africa generally [2,3,12,23]. Afl atoxins B 1 has the highest toxicity among the afl atoxins and accounts for 75% of the total food contamination related to afl atoxins however there is Scanty information available on the prevalence of other mycotoxins like DON, and ZEN in maize and peanuts for human consumption in East Africa though some studies have been undertaken in animal feeds [2,6,18,19,[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40].…”

“…Deoxynivalenol is detected more frequently in animal feeds than in food [6,8,41]. Human beings are exposed to mycotoxins mainly through eating contaminated plant-based foods but can also be exposed to carry-over mycotoxins and their metabolites through animal-based products such as milk, meat, and eggs [4,9,23,42]. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, approximately 25% of food crops all over the world are contaminated with mycotoxins [3].…”

“…DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.17352/jfsnt.000026 can occur when the crops are still in the fi eld as well as after harvesting, during processing, handling, transportation, and storage [13,20,21]. Other factors such as grain damage by birds or insects and poor postharvest handling and storage also greatly contribute to high mycotoxin occurrence in food [22][23][24][25][26][27] Table 2. who consume contaminated maize and yet go unconsidered [2]. Most of the previous studies have targeted one mycotoxin but currently, research is now targeting multiple mycotoxins because of their co-occurrence in agricultural products [5].…”