Aflatoxins in dry fruits

Dry fruit samples from different localities of Pakistan were examined to detect the presence of aflatoxins. Groundnuts, Pistachionuts and walnuts were found to be contaminated with aflatoxins while other fruits were free from aflatoxins. The maximum concentration [800 micro g/Kg] of aflatoxin was found in a sample of groundnuts. Walnuts showed a contamination range of 80 - 400 micro g/Kg. Aflatoxin contents in these samples were much higher than permissible limits

Isolation, separation and identification of food colours used in Sherbets

Two hundred samples of "Sherbets" [non-aerated drinks] were collected from private households, "Hakims" and shopkeepers/vendors. Food colours extracted were identified by subjecting them to thin layer chromatography along with the standards. About two third samples 62.5% were found to contain Amaranth a food colour whose listing was terminated by FDA in 1979. Twenty eight percent of the samples were found to contain not colours permitted by FDA as synthetic food colours

Occurrence of aflatoxins in poultry feeds

Ninety seven samples of poultry feed and 112 samples of poultry feed ingredients were screened for aflatoxins [B1 and B2]. Seventeen percent of these were contaminated with the cantamination range of 13-640 micro g/kg. In case of poultry feed ingredients, rice polishing, maize gluten 60%, dried bread and corn cake showed Contamination. The highest Contamination [800 micro g/kg] was detected in maize gluten 60%

Yeast cultivation on hydrocarbons

Three selected yeast strains i.e. Candida lipolytica [CBS], C. parapsilosis [H-D5], and C. tropicalis [B3] hydrocarbon utilizers were cultivated on a mineral salts medium containing NH4C1, [NH4]2 SO4 and NH4NO3 as nitrogen sources. Diesel oil and kerosene oil were used as sources of carbon and energy. Diesel oil and NH4CI were found to be better sources of carbon and nitrogen for C. lipolytca and C. parapsilosis. Increase in the availability of oxygen to the culture during growth resulted in an increase in the biomass formation. The cell mass yields obtained were upto 90%. Protein content of biomass and its amino acid profile were also reported

Aflatoxins in food and feed stuffs

The aflatoxins are a group of highly toxic and carcinogenic metabolites produced by a number of strains of the fungus 'Aspergillus fiavus' as well as certain other fungi involved with the spoilage of foods and feeding-stuffs. In view of the properties of aflatoxins and the possibility of their widespread occurrence in agricultural commodities, the present work was conducted for the screening of common foods and feedstuffs of Pakistan for aflatoxin contamination. Romer [1965] method was applied for the detection of aflatoxins while the estimation was done by standard TPI procedure. Two out of ninety seven food samples and thirteen out of seventy-four feed and feed ingredient samples were found contaminated with aflatoxins. Both the contaminated food samples and eleven of the feed and feed ingredient samples were found to contain aflatoxins far exceeding the permissible limits. This heavy load of aflatoxins has caused substantial loss of poultry stock of the country