Distribution of aflatoxin in almonds. 2. Distribution in almonds with heavy insect damage

The aflatoxin distribution function in individual insect-damaged NePlus Ult ra almonds was determined and found to be the sum of two distributions. Sub stantially all almonds exhibited a positive aflatoxin level between 0.02 ng /g (the detection level) and 0.3 ng/g, the precise form of this distributio n depending on the lot studied. In addition, 1/1000 of the nuts showed cont amination between 60 and 600 000 ng/g, independent of the lot. The latter d istribution showed a smooth decrease with log concentration in this range, with no evidence of a minimum, as had been found previously for pistachios. No distribution data between 0.3 and 60 ng/g could be obtained. The distri bution below 0.3 ng/g was assigned to contamination during post-harvest sto rage. The distribution above 60 ng/g was tentatively assigned to navel oran ge worm damage occurring when insects enter the kernel during split hulls l ate in the growing season. Considerable additional work will be required to verify these assignments.