Detection of Aflatoxin B₁ in Imported Food Products into Japan by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay and High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

In order to detect the presence of aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁), the use of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and recovery test was evaluated. The detection limit of ELISA for AFB₁ was 1pg/assay and the recovery from maize spiked with AFB₁ exceeded 80%. AFB₁ was detected by ELISA in seven out of twelve samples of imported food products including peanut, almond, red pepper, cocoa bean, black pepper, buckwheat, walnut, adlay, soybean, popcorn, and pistachio nut, and by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in four of the samples. However, the content of AFB₁ in these samples was less than 10ng/g of the minimum value authorized by the Japanese sanitation law. These results demonstrate that ELISA is more sensitive than HPLC and imported food products are broadly contaminated with AFB₁