Journal of Nutraceuticals and Food Science

Editorial

A currently, there are 18 various types of aflatoxins are produced but the very common are B1, B2, G1, M1 and M2. Aflatoxins B1 M1 G1 exit most abundantly, with B1 being the most important. The aflatoxins types B and G represents to fluorescent colours taken into consideration under UV light and such pattern can also be verified through TLC plates. Dead animals and plants are the main source of prevalence of aflatoxins. Afloxins mostly fund in food and agricultural storage commodities because storage conditions are very important. Afltoxins producing species like Aspergillus can be the grown on different substrates and under various environmental conditions. Therefore, at early stages of production like transportation, processing, and storage mould growth can happen and can be the major source of aflatoxins and then damage to the complete food item. Mostly, aflatoxin growth is being observed in during unfavorable storage conditions, improper transport facility and during processing and somehow human error is also involved in causing of aflatoxins. The most dependent factors affecting growing of aflatoxin production by, Aspergillus flavus and of production of Aspergillus parasiticus are RH% surrounding the substrate, which in most cases is between around 85 to 93% and storage temperature of room temperature is 25°C. Foods contaminated with aflatoxins are toxic or harmful to human health, with aflatoxins ranging from 1 ppb to 20 ppb. High doses of aflatoxins can be a major cause of liver disease, such as cirrhosis, liver cancer, mental disorder and death in humans and animals. These toxins are also produced by autoimmune diseases such as malaria. Aflatoxins also damage the immune system, growth factors, kidney and liver function. It has been observed that there is a need for continuous and strict national measures to avoid its prevalence in future.

Garlic, a best antifungal natural substance used for the detoxification purpose specially type B1, 50 g sample was collected from the local super market of the Ravi Road, Lahore and then it was grinder to prepare an aqueous extract. Then blending was done by taking 10 ml of the distilled water and 10 g of the garlic extract and after proper blending filtrate was filtered out with the help of muslin cloth. By using this filtrate, 50 g of the contaminated rice samples were treated and kept on room temperature and incubated for 30 minutes under hood of fumes to get the better results. Statuary and regulatory bodies in the Pakistan must monitor and verify the samples of food for the presence of the aflatoxins on the regular basis, aflatoxins may not be present at the range where it can cause the harmful effects to public health. Meanwhile, taking into account the prevalence of aflatoxins in Pakistan rice and other food commodities must be examine at every stage from field to the end of processing. Aflatoxins also can also be controlled at the early stages by taking over the mold growth at the farm level in specific agricultural types of commodities. Proper measures and precautions must be taken for the inactivation of aflatoxins and reduction of the aflatoxins content in specific post-harvesting types of commodities. It is recommended for consumers to buy products of rice from the authentic sellers. It is also advised that, the food items must be stored in dry and cool conditions and any damage; dirty, opened packaging of the items must be rejected.