Research Article Detection of Total Aflatoxins in Groundnut and Soybean Samples in Yemen Using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Safwan Ahmed Abdullah Murshed , 1,2 Nafees Bacha, 1 and Talal Alharazi 3 1 Center of Biotechnology and Microbiology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan 2 Yemen Standardization, Metrology and Quality Control Organization, Sana’a, Yemen 3 Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Taiz University, Taiz, Yemen Correspondence should be addressed to Safwan Ahmed Abdullah Murshed; safwan_1001@yahoo.com Received 6 December 2018; Revised 1 April 2019; Accepted 23 May 2019; Published 10 June 2019 Academic Editor: M´ arcio Carocho Copyright © 2019 Safwan Ahmed Abdullah Murshed et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Aflatoxins are fungal toxins that have mutagenic and carcinogenic effects, especially hepatocellular carcinoma effect. is work aimed to investigate the presence of aflatoxins in groundnuts and soybeans that are consumed in Yemen. e samples were collected from three different regions in Yemen (Sana’a, al-Hodeida, and Aden), and they were divided into two groups. e concentration of total aflatoxins was analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Aflatoxins were determined in 89 groundnut and 65 soybean samples. e results showed that 85.39% (76/89) of groundnut and 72.3% (45/65) of soybean samples were contaminated with aflatoxins. In addition, in 49.44% and 27.6% of the groundnut and soybean samples, total aflatoxins exceed the acceptable level of European Commission (4 μg/kg), while in only 6.2% of soybean samples and 22.47% of groundnut samples, total aflatoxins were beyond the maximum limit of FDA/Yemen standards (20 μg/kg). e results showed that the aflatoxin contamination in the groundnut and soybean samples may be considered a significant risk for public health. e present study is the first to report the data on the presence of aflatoxins in groundnut and soybean samples in Yemen. 1. Introduction Mycotoxins are a group of secondary toxic metabolites of some strains of filamentous microfungi. Generally, these are found in animal feed and plant products such as rice, maize, copra, soya, peanuts, and wheat [1]. ese toxins are pro- duced during growth, harvesting, and storage phases of feed and grains [2]. Until now, 450 various types of mycotoxins are identified, but only a few of them which are concerned with human beings are important. Most of the mycotoxins are produced by five major fungal genera, i.e., Penicillium, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Claviceps, and Alternaria [3]. e diseases caused by mycotoxins in animals and humans called mycotoxicosis. e severity of fungal diseases ranges from acute toxic to carcinogenic or immunosuppressive. Myco- toxins are not only harmful to humans but also a source of antibiotics (e.g., penicillin) which are used as medicine for the treatment of various diseases, immunosuppressants (e.g., cyclosporine), and compounds used for control of migraine headaches and postpartum hemorrhage (e.g., ergot alka- loids) [4]. Aflatoxins are the most studied groups of my- cotoxins on account of their natural carcinogenic properties and their pathogenetic effects to animals and humans. ese secondary metabolites are produced by five species of fungi, i.e., Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus, A. nomius, A. tamari, and A. pseudotamarii. Only A. flavus and A. parasiticus produce high enough concentration to be considered eco- nomically important. Aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 are produced by special strains of A. flavus and A. parasiticus. e species A. flavus merely produces aflatoxin B, while other species produce both aflatoxin B and aflatoxin G [5–7]. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is metabolized to aflatoxin M1 (AFM1), which is excreted in milk and urine [8, 9]. According to the International Agency of Research on Cancer (IRCA), AFB1 and AFM1 have been considered as a human carcinogen [10]. AFs are acute toxic compounds and have shown to be Hindawi Journal of Food Quality Volume 2019, Article ID 1614502, 7 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/1614502