Determination of aflatoxins in eggs, milk, meat and meat products using HPLC fluorescent and UV detectors

Raw and pasteurised sheep’s, cow’s and goat’s milk, eggs, and beef samples from different local markets in Jordan were collected during a period of 5 months (January through May 2007) and examined for aflatoxins B1(AFB1), B2(AFB2), G1(AFG1), G2(AFG2), M1(AFM1) and M2(AFM2). The samples were analysed with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using UV and Fluorescent detectors. The analysed samples of milk collected in January were found to contain 0.56 μg L−1 AFM1 and 0.1 μg L−1 AFM2 whilst, the concentration of AFM1 and AFM2 was < 0.05 μg L−1 for milk samples collected between March and May. The AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2 contents in the analysed food products ranged from 1.10 to 8.32 μg L−1 and 0.15 to 6.36 μg L−1 in imported and fresh meat samples collected during March, respectively. The mean recovery for the HPLC method was 92% to 109% and the quantification levels were 50 ng L−1 for AFM1 and AFM2. The AFM1 was found in 10% of the tested samples with concentrations between 0.08 and 1.1 μg kg−1 and AFM2 was only found in 1.82% of the tested samples with a level of 0.1 μg kg−1. The AFM1 levels in the examined foods were higher than the maximum level of AFM1 in liquid milk set by the European Community and Codex Alimentarius of 50 ng L−1.