Risk assessment of aflatoxin in red peppers from selected districts of Amhara region, Ethiopia

Red pepper is most widely consumed food in the world and easily damaged by mycotoxic fungi during growing, harvesting, transporting, storage and processing stages. Red pepper is susceptible to degradation by aflatoxins-producing fungi which have serious health effects on humans and livestock. Therefore, in this study, the levels of aflatoxin (B1, B2, G1 and G2) were determined and the potential health risk in red pepper samples collected from selected districts of Amhara Region, Ethiopia, were evaluated. The levels of AFB1, AFG1, AFB2 and AFG2 were ranged from 2.51-63.20, 0.96-5.29, 1.71-32.79 and 0.53-2.04 mu g/kg, respectively. Among 18 investigated red pepper samples, 44.5% (8 samples) contaminated with aflatoxins. All the contaminated red peppers contained AFB1 and AFG1. Three-fourth (75%) of the total aflatoxins detected in red pepper were greater than maximum permissible levels set by European Union (10 mu g/kg). Estimated Daily Intake (EDI) ranged from 0.00013 to 0.015800 mu g/kg b.w/day. The Margins of Exposure (MOE) values for all aflatoxins were far from the safe margin (< 10,000), indicating potential health risk due to red pepper consumption. Therefore, public institutions, non-governmental and private organizations should give attention in order to raise awareness of aflatoxins' effects on human health.