Determination and chemometric evaluation of total aflatoxin, aflatoxin B1, ochratoxin A and heavy metals content in corn flours from Turkey

• Inter-relationship between aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and heavy metals in corn flour.
• Determination of trace elements using ICP-MS.
• Determination of toxins using HPLC after pre-separation using immunoaffinity columns.
• The chemometric evaluation techniques of PCA and CA.

Concentrations of the total aflatoxin, aflatoxin B1, aflatoxin B2, aflatoxin G1, aflatoxin G2, ochratoxin A, lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, copper, zinc and chromium in corn flour samples were determined. Eighteen corn flour samples that were obtained from different cities and villages in Turkey and 3 corn flour samples obtained from the UK. Determination of the different toxins was carried out using HPLC instrumentation after pre-separation using immunoaffinity columns that work through a mechanism of solid-phase extraction. An ICP-MS instrument was used for the heavy metal determinations. The results obtained from HPLC and ICP-MS analyses of the corn flour samples showed that these samples contain detectable levels of most of the analytes but the mercury was at undetectable levels. A very strong statistical relationship was observed between Cr and total Aflatoxin and Aflatoxin B1; whereas Ochratoxin A was related to Cu and Zn concentrations using correlation analyses and principal component analyses.