Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: MARTINHO GAMAS DINIS MARTINHO

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : MARTINHO GAMAS DINIS MARTINHO
DATE: 30/03/2023
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: Virtual
TITLE:

OCCURRENCE OF AFLATOXINS B1, B2, G1 AND G2 IN CORN FLOUR PRODUCED IN MOZAMBIQUE AND THEIR CARCINOGENIC RISK ASSESSMENT

 

KEY WORDS:

Aflatoxins; Cornflour; Carcinogenic risk; Mozambique, HPLC

PAGES: 31
BIG AREA: Ciências Agrárias
AREA: Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos
SUBÁREA: Ciência de Alimentos
SPECIALTY: Avaliação e Controle de Qualidade de Alimentos
SUMMARY:

Introduction: Aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1 and G2) are bisfuranocoumarin compounds produced by fungi of the genre Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus under a favorable warm and humid climate, which can contaminate cereals, including corn, that is the basis of the diet in African countries, like Mozambique. They are recognized as major causes of serious problems in human and animal health. In sub-Saharan Africa, estimates of dietary exposure to aflatoxins exceed 100 ng/kg bw/day. In Mozambique, the highest incidence of hepatocellular cancer (HCC) related to the AFB1 ingestion and excluding other causes was 17.7 cases/100,000 inhabitants, being considered a country with the highest cases of HCC. Objectives: To verify the occurrence of the main aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1 and G2) in corn flour produced and commercialized in Mozambique and perform a carcinogenic risk assessment due to aflatoxin exposure. Methodology: Samples of corn flour (n=30) produced and commercialized in Nampula city, Mozambique, were collected in five flour processing factories, at three different opportunities. The aflatoxin contents were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detector after extraction in immunoaffinity columns and derivatization with trifluoroacetic acid. The carcinogenic risk assessment was based on the calculation of the Margin of Exposure (MOE) for two different scenarios: men and women. Results: The average humidity in the collected samples was 10.5% ± 0.79, varying from 9.1% to 12.2%. All aflatoxins were quantified in only six samples (20%) and 23.3% (n=7) of them had contamination of at least two or three of the aflatoxins. In 56.7% (n=17), the levels of AFs were below the limit of detection (LOD) of the method. AFB1 contamination ranged from 0.27 to 0.36 µg/kg, and total aflatoxin levels ranged from 0.1 to 1.0 µg/kg, with an average of 0.8 µg/kg. The MOE calculated for men was 243 and for women 231, thus being many times below the negligible risk cut-off point of 10,000. Conclusions: The consumption of corn flour in Mozambique represents a very high carcinogenic risk due to exposure to aflatoxins, mainly due to the high consumption of this product that is the basis of the diet in most African countries.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - 2181841 - JOSE ANTONIO MENEZES FILHO
Externa à Instituição - IZABELA MIRANDA DE CASTRO - EMBRAPA
Externo à Instituição - MIGUEL MACHINSKI JÚNIOR