Aflatoxins are metabolites produced by toxigenic strains of molds, mainly Aspergillus

flavus and A. parasiticus, which grow in soil, hay, decaying vegetation, and grains. Aflatoxin
is produced by fungal action during production, harvest, storage, and processing of food and
feed. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers it to be an unavoidable
contaminant of foods. Aflatoxin toxicity has been well established in both humans and
animals. There are different types of aflatoxin. Aflatoxin B1(AFB1) and aflatoxin
B2(AFB2) ,and AFB1 is believed to be the most potent among all aflatoxins. They are
regularly found in improperly stored cassava, cottonseed, chili pepper, maize, wheat, millet,
peanut, rice, sesame, sunflower seed, and many spices. Aflatoxin species belonging to
Aspergillus genus are widely distributed in nature, can infect seeds before harvest or arise
during storage. The host plant is highly susceptible to Aflatoxin if exposed to prolonged
exposure to high humidity or to damage from adverse weather conditions such as drought.
Studies in areas with high cancer rates in the world have shown that aflatoxin poisoning is a
major risk of liver cancer. Aflatoxin also causes kidney damage; suspend DNA synthesis,
DNA mutation, leading to teratogenicity in the case of pregnant women). People can become
infected with aflatoxin by eating contaminated cereals or eating animals fed with aflatoxin
contaminated cereals. According to calculations by scientists, if people absorb 2.5 mg of
aflatoxin in 89 days, liver cancer will appear after 1 year. Some popular methods to detect
aflatoxin exposure in food and feed are:
 Thin-layer chromatography (TLC)
 High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
 Liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (LCMS)
 Enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay (ELISA)
ELISA using AfB1-lysine (metabolite of AFB1) concentration in the patient blood can help
detect aflatoxin. Aflatoxin recommendation, FDA says, Aflatoxin is a very dangerous type 01
carcinogen, which exists a lot in everyday life. To prevent and avoid Aflatoxin
contamination, each of us needs to wash our hands regularly - the most basic way to ensure
personal hygiene, try not to store and store food for a long time to limit mold arising from
food; resolutely dispose of moldy foods, be aware of washing with water or cutting out mold
that cannot completely kill Aflatoxin