Potential for aflatoxin B1 and B2 production by Aspergillus flavus strains isolated from rice samples

Abstract EN

In this study, we investigated the potential for aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and B2 (AFB2) production in rice grain by 127 strains of Aspergillus flavus isolated from rice grains collected from China.

These strains were inoculated onto rice grains and incubated at 28°C for 21 days.

AFB1 and AFB2 were extracted and quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection.

Among the tested strains, 37 % produced AFB1 and AFB2 with levels ranging from 175 to 124101 µg kg-1 for AFB1 and from not detected to 10329 µg kg-1 for AFB2.

The mean yields of these isolates were 5884 µg kg-1 for AFB1 and 1968 µg kg-1 for AFB2.

Overall, most of the aflatoxigenic strains produced higher levels of AFB1 than AFB2 in rice.

The obtained information is useful for assessing the risk of aflatoxin contamination in rice samples.