[Validation Study on an Improved Quantitative Method for Aflatoxins in Foods]

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Toxicology

Background:

• Established analytical methods for aflatoxins in foods exist, based on Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare guidelines.
• Conventional methods require improvements in operability and analytical performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an improved analytical method for aflatoxins in foods.
• Optimization of immunoaffinity column (IAC) selection and purification conditions.
• To omit the evaporation step after IAC purification to enhance efficiency.

Main Methods:

• Optimization of immunoaffinity column (IAC) selection and purification parameters.
• Recovery tests conducted on nine food samples spiked with aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, and G2 standards (2.5 ng/g).
• Comparison of the improved method's performance against established target values and conventional methods.

Main Results:

• The improved method achieved high recovery rates (77.0-99.7%) and low coefficients of variation (intra-assay: 1.7-5.6%, inter-assay: 0.9-3.6%).
• Demonstrated 4.3-10.5% greater recovery compared to the conventional method.
• Reduced preparation time by 1.5 hours.

Conclusions:

• The improved method is applicable to nine different food matrices.
• The optimized method offers enhanced recovery and reduced preparation time, proving effective for aflatoxin analysis in foods.
• This advancement contributes to more efficient and reliable food safety testing for aflatoxins.