Pharmaceutica Analytica Acta

Abstract

Presence of Aflatoxins (Mutagens and Carcinogens) in Industrialized Chili Sauces

Carvajal-Domínguez HG, Carvajal-Moreno M, Ruiz-Velasco S and Alvarez-Bañuelos MT

Aflatoxins (AFs) are the most frequent mutagens, teratogens and carcinogens detected in food, and they are also present in all types of chili peppers and sauces made with them. Fifty-two different industrialized chili pepper sauces from markets in Mexico were analyzed for the presence of aflatoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2). The chemical AF extraction and high performance liquid chromatography methods were validated based on the following parameters: selectivity, linearity (calibration curves), recovery percentages, limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ). The square of correlation coefficients (R2) were AFB1: 0.9973; AFB2: 0.9892; AFG: 0.9969; and AFG2: 0.9986. All curves were correct, with an average regression coefficient of R2 > 0.9892. The percentage of recovery, was 83% for AFB1 , 75% for AFB2, 96% for AFG1, and 81% for AFG2. The Limits of Detection (LOD) were 0.1 ng for AFB1, 0.01 ng for AFB2, 0.01 ng for AFG1, and 0.5 ng for AFG2. For the statistical analysis, the different chili sauce groups were analyzed and compared using a Kruskal-Wallis test, and the results showed no statistically significant differences among the samples with respect to the total aflatoxins (AFt) amounts. The removal of all high mutagenic levels of AFG1 (> 10 ppb) from the analysis did not change the results. Eight chili pepper sauces (15%) from the different groups surpassed the 10 ppb AFt tolerance limit of the Codex Alimentarius and had 15 to 116 μg kg-1 AFt. The average AFt from the 52 samples was 3.69 μg kg-1, which were all within the globally accepted limits. Thus, these results suggest that there is no consistent basis for warning the public about AFs in the most commonly used salsas, but their use should be moderated because many are not safe to eat.