Aflatoxins in raw Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa H.B.K.)

Abstract

The Brazil nut is a nutritionally rich food, produced and consumed in tropical regions. On the other hand, it may be suitable to toxigenic fungi and consequently contamination by aflatoxins (AFL), toxic substances to consumers. In this context, the objective of this work was to evaluate the occurrence of AFL in raw Brazil nuts, that is, before being subjected to industrial drying stages. Of 23 samples were purchased at retail in the city of Manaus-Am-Brazil and evaluated by high performance and liquid chromatography for total AFL (B1+b2+G1+G2). From the samples, 8.6 % were positive for total AFL and. Only AFG1 and AFG2, were detected in the LOD (0.8 μg/kg) and met to the limit of <10 µg/kg of current legislation in Brazil and European Union. In conclusion, despite the contaminated samples met the legal limits, that seems the AFL contamination could happen in raw Brazil nut, as it has been reported in dried seeds. In this sense, some effort in the initial steps of the Brazil nut chain must be applied to mitigate AFL contamination before reach the factory processing.