From global prospective of food safety and food security, mycotoxin contamination of foods has gained much attention as potential health hazards for humans and animals. Cereals and other crops are exposed to fungal attack in the field or during storage and this attack may result in mycotoxin contamination of the crop. Spices and herbs are important ingredients in almost every cuisine. Aflatoxins and ochratoxin A are the most important for human health perspective and in developing countries such as Pakistan where climatic conditions favor the formation of these toxic metabolites. Governments and private organizations of international level have established maximum residue levels (MRLs), which usually guide to control the amount of pesticides in foods. Therefore, the current study was planned to determine occurrence of mycotoxin (Aflatoxin and Ochratoxin) in chillies and to determine incidence of pesticide residues in chilli available on the commercial market in Pakistan.
The samples of whole chilies were collected from local markets of five cities of Punjab (Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Sargodha, and Rawalpindi) Pakistan. Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) was used for the detection of aflatoxin in red chilli (whole) samples. TLC plates were checked under UV box and those samples which showed the positive results were quantitatively analyzed by Scanner Densitometer. The residual analysis of pesticides in chilies were performed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) in Toxicology Laboratory, QOL, UVAS, Lahore, Pakistan.
It observed that chilli samples of Multan city were highly contaminated by Aflatoxin B1 as compared to other cities. Maximun contamination of Aflatoxin B2 in red chilli was found in Rawalpindi city. Maximum numbers of samples (25) were detected by ochratoxin in Sargodha city and minimum number of samples detected in Lahore city. No sample was detected as positive in the samples of Rawalpindi city. Maximun numbers of samples (25) were detected by ochratoxin in Sargodha city and minimum numbers of samples were detected in Lahore city.
Endosulfan and DDE were not detected in any samples of Lahore city. Aldrin was found positive in 55% samples and DDT was found positive in 15% samples of red chilli. Endosulfan was found samples and aldrin was found positive in 40% samples of red chilli. Contamination of Endosulfan and aldrin were higher as compared to DDT and DDE. Amount of Endosulfan and aldrin was found higher in both Sargodha and Rawalpindi cities, respectively. Endosulfan was detected in maximum number of samples as compared to other pesticides in Sargodha city whereas aldrin was found higher in Rawalpindi city.
It has been observed that aflatoxin and Pesticide levels frequently exceed the limits in red pepper (>5 ?g/kg AFB1 and 10ppb AF total; > 2mg/kg Pesticides) and that risks exist for consumers.