Human Health Risk Associated with the Consumption of Aflatoxins in Popcorn.

INTRODUCTION: Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites produced mainly by the molds Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus and A. nomius, and they contaminate cereals, dry fruits, oilseeds and spices. Aflatoxins have harmful effects in animals and humans, inducing vomiting, diarrhea, hepatitis, cirrhosis, immunosuppression, miscarriages, mutagenic and teratogenic effects, resulting in different cancers. Popcorn (Zea mays everta) is a cereal susceptible to aflatoxin contamination, and there are no reports about the risk of its consumption. PURPOSE: A study on the incidence and consumption of aflatoxins in popcorn marketed in the city of Veracruz, Mexico was conducted and evaluated to carry out a risk assessment for human health. METHODS: To obtain popcorn, a random sampling in 30 places was done. Frequency of consumption was obtained with informed consent of participants of 253 surveys that considered gender (56% women and 44% men), age (13 less than 18 years, 218 older than 18 years and 22 older than 60 years) and the average body weight, which was 65.5 kg for women and 72.7 kg for men. RESULTS: Aflatoxins were found in 47% of the 30 samples. The estimated daily consumption among women was 21 g of popcorn daily with 2.8 ng kg-1 body weight aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and 18.29 ng kg-1 body weight total aflatoxins, and for men, the values were 3.0 ng kg-1 body weight AFB1, and 16.0 ng kg-1 body weight of total AF; 1 ng kg-1 body weight is recommended as the tolerance limit by the JECFA (2001). CONCLUSION: The highest liver cancer risk was detected in men population under 18 years of age, with 0.137 cases in 100,000 persons. The results show that 9.5% of the consumers of AFB1-contaminated popcorn are at risk, and 52.2% are at risk for total aflatoxin exposure. Popcorn is accessible to children with lower weight, increasing the risk.

Assessment of Aflatoxin M1 and M2 exposure risk through Oaxaca cheese consumption in southeastern Mexico.

The present study evaluated the exposure of Southeast Mexican population to Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) and M2 (AFM2) through the consumption of Oaxaca cheese. The intake of Oaxaca cheese was assessed via a food 7-day dairy questionnaire (N = 1100, 2014 and 2015). Thirty Oaxaca cheeses were randomly sampled, and the origin of the samples was also investigated. AFM1 and AFM2 were quantified by HPLC-FD. The exposure was assessed through the combination of the Probabilistic Density Functions (probabilistic approach). The percentage of the population at risk was calculated through the population exceeding the toxicological reference values (TDI). The risk assessment revealed that the population at higher risk to AFM1 and AFM2 was the children, followed by the adolescents and adult women. To our knowledge, the present study is the first to assess the exposure risk of different age groups of a population to AFM1 and AFM2 through the consumption of cheese.

Relationship between fermentation index and other biochemical changes evaluated during the fermentation of Mexican cocoa (Theobroma cacao) beans.

BACKGROUND: During traditional cocoa processing, the end of fermentation is empirically determined by the workers; consequently, a high variability on the quality of fermented cocoa beans is observed. Some physicochemical properties (such as fermentation index) have been used to measure the degree of fermentation and changes in quality, but only after the fermentation process has concluded, using dried cocoa beans. This would suggest that it is necessary to establish a relationship between the chemical changes inside the cocoa bean and the fermentation conditions during the fermentation in order to standardize the process. RESULTS: Cocoa beans were traditionally fermented inside wooden boxes, sampled every 24 h and analyzed to evaluate fermentation changes in complete bean, cotyledon and dried beans. The value of the fermentation index suggested as the minimal adequate (≥1) was observed at 72 h in all bean parts analyzed. At this time, values of pH, spectral absorption, total protein hydrolysis and vicilin-class globulins of fermented beans suggested that they were well fermented. CONCLUSION: Since no difference was found between the types of samples, the pH value could be used as a first indicator of the end of the fermentation and confirmed by evaluation of the fermentation index using undried samples, during the process.