Overview of Mycotoxins in India with special reference

to Aflatoxins

F Waliyar

Important Mycotoxins

• Aflatoxins• Ochratoxins• Fusarial toxins

–Fumonisins–Zearalenone–T2-toxin–Deoxynivalenol–Nivalenol

Mycotoxin Affects

• Crops• Food and feed chain• Animal production• Marketability of food• Exports

Effects of Mycotoxins

• Adverse effects on human health and livestock

• Blood tests have shown very high percentage of population of several countries in Asia and Africa are exposed to aflatoxins

• Affect quality• Siginificant economic losses

Losses due to Mycotoxins

• 25% of world food crops are affected annually

Economic Loss in Crops

• Germination rate• Seedling vigour• Grain quality

Mycotoxins in Cereals

Fungi that produce Mycotoxins in Sorghum

Fungus MycotoxinAspergillus flavus Aflatoxins B1

Penicillium spp. Ochratoxin AFusarium moniliformeFusarium proliferatum

Fumonisin B1

Fusarium sps T2-Toxin, Deoxynivalenol, Nivalenol

Fusarium equisetiF. Moniliforme, F. OxysporumF. Semitectum, F. Solani, F. Sporotrichiodes

Zearalenone

Fungi that produce Mycotoxins in Pearl Millet

Fungus MycotoxinAspergillus flavusA. Parasiticus

Aflatoxins

Aspergillus ochraceus Ochratoxin AFusarium semitectumF. Chlamydosporum

DeoxynivalenolNivalenolZearalenone

F. ChlamydosporumF. Moniliforme

Moniformin

• Aflatoxin contamination in India.–Groundnut and groundnut by-

products

Introduction

• Aflatoxins are produced by Aspergillus flavus /A. parasiticus

Effect of Aflatoxin on Health

• Human beings and livestock– Cattle– Poultry

• Deleterious effects– Teratogenic– Immunosuppressive – Many times enhanced in the presence

of hepatitis B and C viruses – Carcinogenic

Aflatoxin Contamination in Crops

• Many crops are affected:–Maize, Groundnut, Soybean, Cotton,

Chili, and many spices etc..• Aflatoxin can occur at all stages of

crop production:–Pre-harvest, harvest, and during

storage–Milk quality

Aflatoxin Contamination in Crops (contd)

Contamination in haulms

• Small pods not removed

• Fed to cattle– Affect

animal health

Marketability

• Limiting factor for exports to developed countries

• Regulations are stringent–4 µ g/kg <: EU

–None: Japan

Survey of Aflatoxin in Ananthapur and Chittor

• Groundnut pods - Farmer’s fields • Groundnut kernel and cake samples

collected from– Farmers– Oil miller storage– Trader’s storage– Supermarkets– Retail shops

Distribution of Aflatoxin Levels in Ananthapur and Pileru (Chittoor)

01020304050607080

<10 10-30 30-100 100-500 >500

Aflatoxin (ug/kg)

Perc

ent o

f sam

ples ATP

PLR

Aflatoxin Contamination in Different Mandals of Ananthapur, Andhra Pradesh

Market Samples

Crop% Samples

>permissible limit (10 µg/kg)

% Samples >100 µg/ kg

Maize 43 9

Sorghum seed 0 0

Soybean cake 89 0

Groundnut cake 100 76

Groundnut seed 31 15

Cotton cake 100 0

Aflatoxin Levels in Storage Samples - Ananthapur

No. of samples with aflatoxin (µg/kg) Source

10-30 31-100 101-500 >500

Farmer storage 1 4 2 1

Traders storage 23 13 27 6

Oil millers storage

32 15 8 9

Insect damaged 9 2 1 8

Groundnut cake 10 0 43 2

Pod with haulms 15 7 0 2

Milk Samples

• 466 milk samples collected from urban, peri-urban and rural areas of Andhra Pradesh

Incidence and Range of Aflatoxin M1 in Milk Samples

No. of samples with AFM1content (µg/L) (range)

Sample typeNo. of samples 0-0.5 0.6-

1516-30 31-

50

Raw milk (peri-urban)

116 8 59 37 12

Raw milk (rural) 236 155 74 3 4

Milk packets 44 28 11 5 0

Powdered milk (g of dry milk/ml of solution)

10 5 5 0 0

Milk products (g of dry milk/ml of solution)

10 7 3 0 0

Cow milk 50 33 17 0 0

Buffaloes Milk

• Milk analyzed from buffaloes fed with haulms/small pods. 22.5% of samples showed >0.5 ng/L of AFM1

ICRISAT’s approach to manage Aflatoxin contamination

• Genetic resistance• Cultural practices• Biological control• Post harvest technologies• Biotechnology

Conclusions

• Some post-harvest cultural practices, which can lead to minimization of mycotoxin contamination are being tested

• Focus in some villages of Ananthapur where there is high levels of aflatoxin

• Most of the farmers and producers were not aware of aflatoxin. A major awareness campaign is going on

Conclusions (contd.)

• Varieties with lower levels of infection and contamination are being tested in farmers’ participatory varietal selection

• There is a need to develop strategies to reduce aflatoxin contamination in groundnut-based animal and poultry feeds.

Conclusions (contd.)

• Human health issues need to be undertaken• A. flavus cause human disease

– Fungal infections of central nervous system (CNS)

– Aspergillosis of the CNS is the most common fungal infection in the histologically verified series from India (NIMS report)

THANK YOU

www.aflatoxin.info