Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of Food Safety, cilt.29, sa.1, ss.95-105, 2009 (SCI-Expanded)
Nuts are important agricultural commodities in Turkey as they are exported and largely consumed domestically. Two hundred and seventeen samples of hazelnuts, pistachio nuts and peanuts were randomly collected from public markets, bazaars, supermarkets and retail stores in several regions of Turkey and analyzed for the incidence of aflatoxin (B1, B2, G1, G2) contamination by high-performance liquid chromatography. The levels of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and the total aflatoxins in the majority of samples analyzed (87.09%) were so low that they were not quantifiable. Thirty-one samples (14.28%) were found to have low levels of aflatoxins, below the Turkish National regulatory limits of 5 μg/kg for AFB1 and 10 μg/kg for total aflatoxins. However, four samples (1.84%) showed a level of contamination that exceeded the maximum tolerated levels set in the Turkish regulations. The highest value of AFB1 was 36.81 μg/kg in pistachio nuts. This article reports the data of the first survey on the presence of aflatoxins in nuts sampled in three distinct regions of Turkey. © 2009, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.