Short communication Rapid determination of total aflatoxins and ochratoxins A in meat products by immuno-affinity fluorimetry Samir Mohammed Abd-Elghany, Khalid Ibrahim Sallam ⇑ Department of Food Hygiene and Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt article info Article history: Received 13 February 2013 Received in revised form 28 January 2015 Accepted 31 January 2015 Available online 7 February 2015 Chemical compounds studied in this article: Ochratoxin A (CID: 442530) Aflatoxin B1 (CTD: 186907) Aflatoxin B2 (CID: 2724360) Aflatoxin G1 (CID: 14421) Aflatoxin G2 (CID: 2724362) Aflatoxin M1 (CID: 15558498) Aflatoxin M2 (CID: 23318) Methanol (CID: 887) Tween 20 (CID: 443314) Sodium chloride (CID: 5234) Keywords: Aflatoxins Ochratoxin A Immuno-affinity fluorimetry Beef abstract Total aflatoxins (AFT) and ochratoxin A (OTA) levels were estimated using the VICAM AflaTest and OchraTest immunoaffinity fluorometric method in a total of 50 meat products (25 each of beef luncheon and beef burger) purchased from different supermarkets in Mansoura city, Egypt. All the meat samples analyzed were contaminated with both AFT and OTA with mean values of 1.1 lg/kg and 5.23 lg/kg, respectively, for beef luncheon and mean values of 3.22 lg/kg and 4.55 lg/kg, respectively, for beef burger. None of the beef luncheon and burger samples analyzed exceeded the permissible limits set by FDA for AFT, but 40% of beef burgers exceeded the FAO AFT permissible limit. Similarly, 52% and 36% of beef luncheon and beef burger samples exceeded the FAO OTA permissible limit. Application of the immunoaffinity fluorometric method is an accurate, safe and rapid method for mycotoxins determination in meat products to ensure their safety for human consumption. Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites of low molecular weight produced by naturally occurring fungi in different kinds of foods and feedstuffs, particularly cereals, peanuts, tree nuts, meat, meat products, milk products, eggs and different oilseeds (Brown et al., 2001). Mycotoxins in meat products may originate from residue in animal feed, direct growth of toxigenic moulds, usually on the outer layer of meat products (Bailly & Guerre, 2009) or from the addition of flavoring materials, such as spices (Fazekas, Tar, & Kovács, 2005). Among mycotoxins of greatest public health and agroeconomic significance are aflatoxins and ochratoxin A, which remain a worldwide problem and account for millions of dollars lost annually in terms of human health, animal health and condemned agricultural products (Zain, 2011). Aflatoxins are produced mainly by Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus and rarely Aspergillus nomius (Alcaide-Molina, Ruiz-Jiménez, Mata-Granados, & Luque de Castro, 2009) while ochratoxin A is produced by Aspergillus och- raceus and Penicillium verrucosum (Van der Merwe, Steyn, Fourie, Scott, & Theron, 1965). The consumption of an aflatoxin- and/or ochratoxin- contaminated diet is potentially a health hazards for both humans and animals through induction of acute and chronic effects that have teratogenic, carcinogenic or immunosuppressive impact (Felizardo & Câmara, 2013). Aflatoxins are implicated in human hepatocellular carcinoma (Felizardo & Câmara, 2013) while ochratoxin A (OTA) is highly nephrotoxic, causing both acute and chronic lesions of the kidneys, and is implicated in urinary tract tumors (IARC, 1993). Although it is difficult to entirely eliminate mycotoxins from human diets, it is possible to decrease the risk of exposure through a rigorous program of monitoring. Monitoring of mycotoxins in http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2015.01.140 0308-8146/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +20 1000479670. E-mail address: khsallam@hotmail.com (K.I. Sallam). Food Chemistry 179 (2015) 253–256 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Chemistry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem