Determination of Aflatoxins in Corn and Its Processed Products in the Philippines by Minicolumn Method

Abstract

Corn and commercial corn products obtained from different regions of the Philippines were analyzed for total aflatoxins using the validated “lahar” minicolumn method, originally designed for copra meal, and for aflatoxin B₁(AFB₁) by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The whole corn samples showed an incidence of 48% aflatoxin contamination, 30% of which were above than 20 μg/kg permissible level for aflatoxins; the whole kernel feed corn showed higher levels of aflatoxins than the corn grits and cracked corn; while for the commercial corn products, a consistent aflatoxin contamination was observed with fried corn, the other processed corn products showed less than 20μg/kg aflatoxin contamination. Results showed that there is a good agreement between the minicolumn responses and the HPLC data. Therefore, the minicolumn method is an efficient screening tool for aflatoxin detection in the samples.