Investigations on aflatoxigenic fungi and aflatoxins contamination in some nuts sampled in Algeria

Abstract

Accepted 26 August, 2013 In this study, 40 nuts samples (almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, peanuts and walnuts) available in the Algerian market were investigated for aflatoxigenic fungi and aflatoxins contamination. An evaluation of mould biodiversity revealed Aspergillus link to be the most frequent genus, while species belonging to the section Nigri (30.6%) and to the section Flavi (27.9%) were predominantly isolated. 78.6 and 52.4% of the 420 isolates of Aspergillus section Flavi examined produced cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) and aflatoxins (AFs), respectively. The majority of the aflatoxigenic strains (90.5%) were identified as Aspergillus flavus. In 90% of the nuts samples, aflatoxins were detected by HPLC with widely fluctuating contamination levels. Their concentrations ranged from 0.2 to 25.82 μg/kg. The highest levels were found in peanuts, pistachios and walnuts.