Natural occurrence of aflatoxin B1 and aflatoxin M1 in "halva" and its ingredients

A total 431 samples including halva (56), pistachio (71), almond (63), semolina (69), cardamom (34), raisins (46), halva puri (39) and wheat powder (53) were analyzed using HPLC equipped with florescence detector. The results have shown that 32 (57%) samples of halva, 45 (63%) pistachio, 43 (68%) almond, 46 (67%) semolina, 21(62%) cardamom, 19(41%) raisins, 21(54%) halva puni and 22 (42%) of wheat powder samples were found contaminated with AFB(1), and 11(20%), 23 (32%), 34(54%), 12 (17%), 11(32%), 7(15%), 9 (23%) and 11(21%) samples, respectively were above the European Union permissible limit (2 mu g/kg). The results have shown that 20 (59%) samples of halva that contained milk were found contaminated with AFM(1) and 3 (9%) samples were found above the recommended limit for AFM(1) i.e. 0.05 mu g/kg. Limit of detection (LOD) and Limit of quantification (LOQ) for AFB(1) and AFM(1) were 0.04 mu g/kg, 0.12 mu g/kg, and 0.004 mu g/L, 0.012 mu g/L, respectively. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.