Aflatoxins in randomly selected groundnuts (Arachis hypogaea) and its products from some local markets across Ghana: Human risk assessment and monitoring

Nii Korley Kortei; Theophilus Annan; Papa Toah Akonor; Seidu A Richard; Helen Ama Annan; Michael Wiafe- Kwagyan; Matilda Ayim-Akonor; Princess Golda Akpaloo

doi:10.1016/j.toxrep.2021.01.002

Aflatoxins in randomly selected groundnuts (Arachis hypogaea) and its products from some local markets across Ghana: Human risk assessment and monitoring

Toxicol Rep. 2021 Jan 8:8:186-195. doi: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2021.01.002. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Nii Korley Kortei¹, Theophilus Annan², Papa Toah Akonor³, Seidu A Richard⁴, Helen Ama Annan², Michael Wiafe- Kwagyan⁵, Matilda Ayim-Akonor⁶, Princess Golda Akpaloo¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Allied Health Sciences, University of Health and Allied Sciences, PMB 31, Ho, Ghana.
² Food Microbiology Division, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research- Food Research Institute, P. O. Box M20, Accra, Ghana.
³ Food Processing and Engineering Division, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research- Food Research Institute, P. O. Box M20, Accra, Ghana.
⁴ Department of Medicine, Princefield University, P.O. Box MA 128, Ho, Ghana.
⁵ Department of Plant and Environmental Biology, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, P. O. Box LG 55, Legon, Ghana.
⁶ Animal Health and Food Safety Division, CSIR- Animal Research Institute, P.O. Box AH20, Achimota, Ghana.

Abstract

A random assessment and human risk analysis were conducted on 80 groundnut pastes and raw groundnuts from some local markets across the different agroecological zones of Ghana. Total aflatoxins (AFtotal) and aflatoxins (AFB₁, AFB₂, AFG₁, and AFG₂) were analyzed using the High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) method. Out of 80 samples investigated, 49 (61.25 %) tested positive for AFB₁ and ranged from 0.38 ± 0.04-230.21 ± 22.14 μg/kg. The same proportion was recorded for total aflatoxins (AF_total) and ranged between 0.38 ± 0.02-270.51 ± 23.14 μg/kg. Limits of AFB₁ and total aflatoxins (AFtotal) for the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) (5 and 10 μg/kg) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) (2 and 4 μg/kg), were used as checks. A total of 33 (41.25 %) samples were above the limits for both. Risk assessments recorded for Estimated Daily Intake (EDI), Margin of Exposure (MOE), potency, cancer risk, and population risks ranged 0.087-0.380 μg/Kg.bw/day, 1052.630-4597.700, 0-0.00396 ng Aflatoxins kg^-1bwday^-1 and, 1.5 × 10^-3 - 7.9 × 10^-4 respectively for total aflatoxins. While for aflatoxins B₁ (AFB₁), ranges of values of 0.068-0.300 μg/Kg.bw/day, 1333.33-5882.35, 0-0.00396 ng aflatoxins kg/bw/day and, 1.19 × 10^-3 - 6.34 × 10^-4 corresponded for Estimated Daily Intake (EDI), Margin of Exposure (MOE), potency, cancer risk, and population risk respectively. There were risks of adverse health effects involved in the consumption of groundnuts for all age groups investigated since MOE values were all below 10,000.

Keywords: Aflatoxins; Ghana; Groundnut paste; HPLC; Mycotoxins; Risk assessment.