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Modified AOAC 991.31 and AOAC 2000.03 methods for the simultaneous determination of total aflatoxins (AFs), aflatoxin B1, and ochratoxin A (OTA) in processed cereal-based foods by RP-HPLC coupled with fluorescence detection were validated. A KOBRA® Cell derivatization system was used to analyze total AFs. One of the modifications was the extraction procedure of mycotoxins. Both AFs and OTA were extracted with methanol-water (75+25, v/v) and purified with an immunoaffinity column before HPLC analysis. The modified methods were validated by measuring the specificity, selectivity, linearity, sensitivity, accuracy, repeatability, reproducibility, recovery, LOD, and LOQ parameters. The validated methods were successfully applied for the simultaneous determination of mycotoxins in 81 processed cereal-based foods purchased in Turkey. These rapid, sensitive, simple, and validated methods are suitable for the simultaneous determination of AFs and OTA in the processed cereal-based foods.

The present work reports the total aflatoxin and aflatoxin B1 levels in 62 food samples from Istanbul, Turkey. The total aflatoxin content in dried American cucumber, squash, tomato, okra and saffron samples was found to be 1.7 μg/kg. AFB1 levels in five dried vegetables (red bell pepper, American cucumber, squash, tomato and okra), two tea (linden and jasmine flower) and three spice samples (cardamom, galangal and saffron) were 1 μg/kg. Of the tested samples, 76% exceeded legal limits of total aflatoxin. The highest levels were determined in chestnut (232.9 μg/kg), nutmeg (206.1 μg/kg) and sumac (182.5 μg/kg). These findings confirm the existing knowledge that food should be regularly and effectively controlled.