NATURAL OCCURRENCE OF MYCOTOXINS IN DIFFERENT SPICES IN EGYPT

A total of 120 different samples belonging to 24 kinds of spices colle cted from different places at Assiut Governorate (Egypt) were examined for the natural occurrence of mycotoxins. TLC analysis of spice extra cts revealed the presence of aflatoxins (8-35 mu g/kg) in 16 samples o f anise, black pepper, caraway, black cumin, fennel, peppermint, coria nder and marjoram, sterigmatocystin (10-23 mu g/kg) in ten samples of red pepper, caraway, cumin and marjoram and citrinin (8-12 mu g/kg) in two samples of black cumin, while ochratoxin A and zearalenone could not be detected.