A survey of aflatoxin M1 levels in Kahramanmaraş cheese

Abstract

AflatoxinM1 (AFM1) levels weremeasured in 46 Kahramanmaraş semi-hard cheese samples (22 frombovine milk, 18 fromgoatmilk, and 6 fromovinemilk) using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). None of the ovine milk cheese samples contained AFM1. AFM1 was present in 32 samples (69.6%) of bovine and goat cheese. Bovinemilk cheese and goat milk cheese samples contained 0.069-1.2 ng g-1 and 0.06-0.22 ng g-1 of AFM1, respectively. With the exception of 2 bovine milk cheese samples (one contained 1.2 ng g-1of AFM1, the other contained 0.25 ng g-1 of AFM1), the other samples (96%) had levels of AFM1 below the acceptable limit for cheese (0.25 ppb) set forth by the Turkish Alimentarus Codex. © TÜBİTAK.