Aspergillus spp and aflatoxins in Pakistani rice: A case study on the decontamination effect of accelerated aging and
Iqra Naeem1, Amir Ismail2, Yun Yun Gong3
1Department of Food Science & Technology, Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan.
Abstract:
This research aimed to isolate aflatoxigenic Aspergillus spp. and quantify the levels of aflatoxins (AF) in Pakistani rice (N = 180) and conduct a case study to assess the AF decontamination effect of accelerated aging (AA) using microwave and improved storage practices of brown rice. AF-producing A. flavus and A. parasiticus strains were recovered from 120 samples analyzed (66.7 %) at median counts of 2.88 and 2.33 Log colony forming units/g, respectively. AF levels in Pakistani rice (paddy, brown, and white rice) exceeded the EU maximum permissible limit (MPL) of 5 μg/kg for AFB1 and 10 μg/kg for total AFs in 29.8 % and 15.6 % of samples, respectively. Brown rice showed the highest AF contamination (85 %), followed by paddy rice (83.3 %) and white rice (76.7 %), with median levels of 7.65, 5.70 and 4.38 μg/kg, respectively. Compared with traditional storage of brown rice aged naturally, AF levels in kernels submitted to AA along with improved storage had a 46 % reduction during 180-day storage. Compared with naturally aged samples, AA brown rice had lower values of fatty acid, and higher levels of total phenolic content and antioxidant activity at day 180 of storage. Data presented indicated that AA using microwave and proper storage practices are valuable strategies to mitigate AF contamination in brown rice, with additional beneficial effects on the product's quality during storage.
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