DIP-STRIP METHOD FOR MONITORING ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION OF AFLATOXIN IN FOOD AND FEED - USE OF A PORTABLE AFLATOXIN DETECTION KIT

Aflatoxin contamination of food and feed have gained global significan ce due to its deleterious effect on human and animal health and its im portance in the international trade. The potential of aflatoxin as a c arcinogen, mutagen, teratogen, and immunosuppressive agent is well doc umented. The problem of aflatoxin contamination of food and feed has l ed to the enactment of various legislation. However, meaningful strate gies for implementation of this legislation is limited by nonavailabil ity of simple, cost-effective method for screening and detection of af latoxin under field conditions. Keeping in mind the analytical constra ints in developing countries, a simple-to-operate, rapid, reliable, an d cost-effective portable aflatoxin detection kit has been developed. The important components of the kit include a hand-held UV lamp (365 n m, 4 W output), a solvent blender (12,000 rpm) for toxin extraction, a nd adsorbent-coated dip-strips (polyester film) for detecting and quan tifying aflatoxin. Analysis of variance indicates that there were no s ignificant differences between various batches of dip-strips (p > 0.05 ). The minimum detection limit for aflatoxin B1 was 10 ppb per spot. T he kit may find wide application as a research tool in public health l aboratories, environmental monitoring agencies, and in the poultry ind ustry.