Corn (Zea mays L), belongs to the family Poaceae is most widely distributed crop
throughout the world. Corn is third important cereal in Pakistan after wheat and rice. It is an
important crop cultivated over an area of 1 million hectares with a production of about 3.3
million tons in Pakistan. Corn is used as food, feed and fuels in Pakistan. Silage is produced from
corn crop that is used for feed purposes on a wide scale in Pakistan. The major issue which
influences the corn silage is naturally occurring aflatoxins (AFB1 and AFB2) with AFB1 the
most important, toxic and carcinogenic. Aflatoxins (AFB1 and AFB2) are toxins produced by
Aspergillus flavis and Aspergillus parasiticus infecting the agricultural crops. Corn silage is
largely contaminated by aflatoxins in Pakistan due to seasonal variations, improper management
of grains, improper storage of corn silage, infiltration of rain in silage and contaminated soils.
These are dangerous fungal metabolites that impair child development, suppress the immune
system, cause cancer and in severe acute exposure death occurs, so it is necessary to estimate its
toxicity in public health perspective.
For this purpose present study was conducted to determine the level of aflatoxins in Corn
silage and mix wanda samples. Determination of heavy metals (Zn, Cr, Cu, Pb) and crystalline
earth metals (Na, Ca, K) was also performed in the same samples. Samples were collected from
different areas of Gujrat city and its sorroundings i.e. Chakchodo, kunjah, G.T road Gujrat,
Bhakoki village, jalal pur jattan (JPJ), Maroof village JPJ, Nawa pind, wazirabaad, Mallu
khokhar bhimber road Gujrat, Kharian, Sadiqabad village Lalamusa, Kot jameel near Wazirabad,
Kathala G.T road Gujrat, Shadman colony Gujrat, Karrianwala, Shah Jahangir road Gujrat,
Purani sabzi mandi Gujrat, Bakra mandi Gujrat, Gujjar pur Gujrat, Jamal pur syedan Gujrat,
Summary
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Village Sookklan Gujrat, University road Gujrat, Bismillah chowk, JPJ, Ghala mandi railway
road Gujrat, Boly wala pull jpj road Gujrat, Village pindi hasny di Gujrat, Main bazaar
Waziraabad, Ghala mandi Waziraabad, UVAS Lahore. The samples were analyzed by thin layer
chromatography (TLC) to check the presence of aflatoxins (B1, B2), Atomic absorption
spectrophotometer to determine the heavy metals and flame photometer to check the crystalline
earth metals. Analyses of heavy metals and crystalline earth metals were performed in the
Departmental Laboratory of Environmental sciences, UVAS, Lahore. These analyses of
aflatoxins were performed in the Food and biotechnology research centre PCSIR, Lahore.
Experimental results showed that 14 out of 40 samples were contaminated with two types of
aflatoxins. In other words, 35% samples were found contaminated with aflatoxnis. Aflatoxin B1
was the major aflatoxin found in many samples but aflatoxins B2 was also identified. Total of 40
samples were collected for determination of aflatoxin B1 and Aflatoxin B2, heavy metals and
crystalline earth metals. Corn silage samples were categorized into two categories, one was
collected from dairy farms and other from supplier. Mix wanda samples were also categorized
into two categories, one collected from different shops and other from dairy form of Gujrat city.
In 17 samples of corn silage collected from dairy farms, 4 (23%) were contaminated with
Aflatoxin B1 and only one (33%) out of 3 samples collected from suppliers was contaminated
with aflatoxin B1. None of the sample of corn silage was contaminated with aflatoxin B2. In 11
samples of wanda collected from dairy farms, 5 (45%) were contaminated with Aflatoxin B1 and
4 (44%) out of 9 samples collected from shops were contaminated with aflatoxin B1. Overall 2
(10%) samples of wanda were contaminated with aflatoxin B2. AFB1 was present more
frequently in wanda samples.