Aflatoxins and ochratoxin A contamination in rice, corn and corn products from Punjab, Pakistan

• The study focused on the occurrence of AFs and OTA in rice, corn and corn products.
• About 18 and 28% samples have been found above the limit for AFB1 and AFs respectively, in rice.
• About 13 and 14% samples of corn have found above the EU limit for AFB1 and AFs, respectively.
• Samples of 11 and 15% of corn products have found above the EU limit for AFB1 and AFs, respectively.
• Urgent attention is required to implement strict regulation for these mycotoxins.

In present study, a total of 275 retail cereal samples including rice, corn and corn products was analyzed for the presence of aflatoxins and ochratoxin A (OTA) using HPLC equipped with a fluorescence detector. The data has shown that 38 out of 68 samples of rice, 37/105 of corn and 43/102 samples of corn products have been found contaminated with AFs, average level of AFB1 and total AFs, 8.23 and 19.54, 7.90 and 12.08, and 5.47 and 7.85 μg/kg, respectively. Furthermore, 34, 28 and 26 numbers of rice, corn and corn product samples were found to be contaminated with OTA with an average level of 12.94, 5.29 and 3.69 μg/kg, respectively. The samples of rice, corn and corn products found above the permissible European Union (EU) limit for AFB1 and total AFs were 18, 13 and 14 and 28, 14 and 20%, respectively; however, the samples of rice, corn and corn products above the EU limit were 40, 14 and 15%, respectively.