A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF SOLVENT-EXTRACTION EFFICIENCY AND THE PERFORMANCE OF IMMUNOAFFINITY AND SOLID-PHASE COLUMNS ON THE DETERMINATION OF AFLATOXIN B-1

The efficiency of two different immunoaffinity columns and a phenyl bonded-phase column were compared during the extraction, clean-up and quantification of aflatoxin B-1 from sorghum and maize. Fluorodensitometry of high performance thin-layer chromatograms was used for quantification of aflatoxin B-1. Maize had a simple matrix, and comparable precisions and accuracies were obtained for each of the methods. The sorghum matrix was complex and the bonded-phase procedure was the most accurate and precise method. There was evidence to suggest that the lower aflatoxin B-1 recovery from sorghum by immunoaffinity columns is a solvent extraction problem. Better aflatoxin B-1 recoveries were obtained from naturally contaminated sorghum and maize when acetonitrile was replaced with acetone as the extraction solvent.