Journal of Public Health and Biological Sciences ISSN 2305-8668 (Print) 2307-0625 (Online)

Vol. 2, No. 4 Oct Dec 2013, p.324-329 URL: http://www.jphbs.com

Review Article

CURRENT SCENARIO OF AFLATOXIN BURDEN: A REVIEW OF PAKISTANI FOOD CHAIN

Naeem Mahmood Ashraf*1, Awais Asif2
1

Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Gujrat, Pakistan; 2Department of Biochemistry, Nawaz Shrief Medical College, University of Gujrat, Pakistan

*Corresponding author: Naeem Mahmood Ashraf (naeem.mahmood@uog.edu.pk), Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Gujrat, Pakistan.

Abstract
Aflatoxins are naturally occurring contaminants, continuously entering into human food chain. Situation of aflatoxin contamination in Pakistani food chain seems not satisfactory due to poor storage conditions and lack of regulatory measures. Country economy is based on agriculture and aflatoxin problem not only affecting health of country population but also exports of agriculture products. Higher level of aflatoxin contamination is reported in chilies and corn with average mean value of 30 g/kg and 30.39 g/kg respectively while low level contamination has been found in rice with average mean value 3.19 g/kg in different studies. More surveillance studies are needed to carefully monitor the contamination level throughout country and possible measures should be taken to control contamination by regulatory authorities. Key words:

Introduction Aflatoxin are secondary metabolites which are primarily produced by Aspergillusflavus and Aspergillusparasiticusand rarely Aspergillus nomius1. Aflatoxins are characterized into four different classesaflatoxin B1, aflatoxin B2, aflatoxin G1 &aflatoxin G2 and in milk another hydrolyzed product of these aflatoxins are also found which is called aflatoxin M2. Aflatoxins are most hazardous compounds which are produced by fungus on feed under suitable temperature and moisture3. Aflatoxin B1 is characterized as type I carcinogenic compound by International Agency for Research in Cancer4. Moreover these toxins are also linked with

immune suppression5 and have drastic negative effect on growth of children6. These aflatoxins become part of human food chain through intake of contaminated agriculture products, eggs, meat and milk. Pakistan economy is based on agriculture sector which contribute to 70% of total GDP and earning huge amount of foreign reserves for country. Not only Pakistani population is suffering from contamination but also country economy is also getting huge export losses every year. Unfortunately there isnt any check and balance to control entry of these toxins in human food chain by Govt. This review is throwing light on the burden of aflatoxins

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in ingredients which are part of human food chain in Pakistan. Milk: Pakistan stands at fifth position in production of milk in world with 29 million ton annual production7. In this production 70% is buffalo milk. 98% of milk is sold in raw form and only 2% is gone to UHT processing8. In Pakistan milk producing animals are usually fed on fodder, cotton seed cake, soyabean, threshed wheat straw, wheat bran and paddy straw rather than prepared feed Numbers of studies have been conducted in Pakistan especially in Punjab province to find out amount of aflatoxin M contamination in milk10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17. Direct correlation between aflatoxin B1 in fodder and aflatoxin M in milk samples have been reported 18therefore level of aflatoxin M found to be higher in cow and buffalo milk samples which are fed on stored concentrated feed rather than grazing animals milk10. Similarly it has been observed that rural areas milk is less contaminated as compared to urban areas because of availability of fresh fodder in

which is utilized by farmers of developed countries. These materials are susceptible for fungal growth especially from JulyOctober months in which there is high humidity level. If the animals are fed on aflatoxin contaminated material than aflatoxins appear in milk of animals in form of Aflatoxin M, which is hydrolyzed product of aflatoxins9. Aflatoxin M are also characterized as Type-1 carcinogenic compounds to human by IARC4. rural areas11. Aflatoxin M contamination is also linked with seasonal variations, summer milk samples are found to be less contaminated as compared to winter milk samples because nonavailability of fresh fodder in winter10. Food laws which are implemented in Pakistan, are saying nothing for tolerance limit of aflatoxin M therefore in all above mentioned studies EU or USA tolerance limits have been used. Although in these reports aflatoxin M levels seem to be lower than EU or USA permissible range but this data is not enough to highlight complete picture.

Table 1: Average Mean values of Aflatoxin M in Milk reported in Pakistan

Aflatoxin Mean values (ug/kg) 0.029 g/l 0.007 g/l 0.1525 g/l 0.252 g/l 0.02 g/l 0.046 g/l

Authors Hussainet al., 2008 Hussianet al., 2010 Asiet al., 2012 Sadiaet al., 2012 Maqboolet al., 2013 Iqbalet al., 2013

Chili: Chili is most valuable cash crop in Pakistan and share 1.5% in total GDP of country. Pakistan stands 6th largest chili exporting country in world 19. Chilies are used as whole pod, powder form and chili sauce form in human food chain. Few studies have been carried out to find out aflatoxin contamination20,21,22,23,24 and finding of these studies are quite alarming.
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In all the studies, on average 30% chili samples are found to be contaminated with average mean value of 30g/kg which is six time higher than the EU permissible level therefore EU and Japan have banned import of chilies from Pakistan. All these above mentioned studies have been conducted in Punjab province which accounts for 10.5% of total chili

production, Sindh province contributes 82% of total production of chilies in Pakistan and affected from flood continuously from last three years. No current study is available which shows contamination of aflatoxin in chilies which are produced in Sindh province and we can anticipate that levels of contamination will be higher than the reported data in chilies samples collected from Sindh province.
Table 2: Average Mean values of Aflatoxin B1 in Chilies samples reported in Pakistan Aflatoxin Mean values Authors (ug/kg) 33.36 g/kg Paterson, 2007 32.20 g/kg Iqbalet al., 2010 20.25 g/kg Iqbalet al., 2011 18.83 g/kg Iqbalet al., 2013

consumption. Only two studies are available throwing light on aflatoxin contamination in wheat 27,28 indicating average mean value 5.2g/kg. The maximum mean value is reported by Lutfullahet al., (2011)28 which is 6.6g/kg. This data seems not sufficient to elaborate whole picture of aflatoxin contamination.
Table 4: Average Mean values of Aflatoxin B1 in Wheat samples reported in Pakistan Aflatoxin Mean Authors value (ug/kg) 3.8 g/kg Qamaret al., 2008 6.6 g/kg Lutfullahet al., 2012

Cereals: Cereals crops which are mostly cultivated in Pakistan include wheat, rice and maize and these ingredients are heavily used in human food chain of Pakistani population. In 2012-13 4.2 million tones maize has been produced in Pakistan with average 4 tone production per hector. Punjab and KPK provinces are major producer of maize. Few studies are available in which contamination of aflatoxin in maize have been investigated 25,26,27,28,29. According to these studies average mean value is 30.34g/kg with minimum mean value 10.4 g/kg28 to maximum mean 49.35g/kg27.
Table 3: Average Mean values of Aflatoxin B1 in Maize samples reported in Pakistan Aflatoxin Mean values Authors (g/kg) 49.37 g/k 45 g/kg 16.22 g/kg 10.4 g/kg 31 g/kg Qamaret al., 2008 Ahsanet al., 2010 Shah et al., 2010 Lutfullahet al., 2012 Khan et al., 2013

Rice is another important cereal crop of Pakistan. Annual production of rice is 6.5 million and not only sufficient for domestic use but also for exports. Satisfactory situation has been observed related to aflatoxin contamination in Pakistan27,28,30,31,32 with average mean value 3.19 g/kg. Qamer et al., (2008)27 has reported maximum average mean value 5.8 g/kg while minimum 0.73 g/kg has been reported by Firdous et al., (2010)30.
Table 5: Average Mean values of Aflatoxin B1 in Rice samples reported in Pakistan Aflatoxin Mean Authors values (g/kg) 5.8 g/kg Qamaret al., 2008 0.73 g/kg Firdouset al., 2010 3.7 g/kg Hussainet al., 2011 4.6 g/kg Lutfullahet al., 2012 1.15 g/kg Asghar et al., 2013

Conclusion
Unfortunately in developing countries like Pakistan, food safety is not considered to be valuable topic to be focused. Therefore there isnt any check & balance to control quality of food for human consumption. Level of aflatoxin found to be very high in some Pakistani ingredients which are routinely used in human diet. This is alarming situation for policy makers to

Pakistan is annually producing 24 million ton wheat which is sufficient for domestic
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device policies to control entry of these toxins in food chain. Aflatoxins are mutagenic, associated with hepatic cancer, immune deficiency and delayed growth in young ones. In Pakistan from last two years, there are outbreaks of measles and Dengue and these outbreaks may be References
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