title: Detection of Aspergillus spp. and aflatoxin B1 in rice in India.
abstract: Twelve hundred rice samples consisting of paddy (675) and milled rice (525) were collected from 20 states across India. These samples were assessed for Aspergillus spp. infection on selective medium and aflatoxin B(1) (AFB1) by indirect competitive ELISA. In this investigation, Aspergillus flavus contamination dominated in all the seed samples. The other major contaminants were Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus ochraceus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Out of 1200 rice samples, 67.8% showed AFB1 ranging from 0.1 to 308.0 microg/kg. All the paddy samples from Chattishgarh, Meghalaya and Tamil Nadu showed AFB1 contamination. Milled rice grains from different states showed below the permissible levels of AFB1 (average 0.5-3.5 microg/kg). Eighty-two percent of samples from open storage that were exposed to rain showed AFB1 contamination followed by one-year-old seed. Out of 1200 samples, 2% showed AFB1 contamination above the permissible limits (>30 microg/kg). This is the first comprehensive report of aflatoxin contamination in rice across 20 states in India.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Directorate of Rice Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad - 500 030, Andhra Pradesh, India. drkrnreddy@gmail.com
authors.forename: K R N
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Muralidharan
mesh_terms: D016604:Aflatoxin B1 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D001231:Aspergillus flavus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D001234:Aspergillus niger / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D001235:Aspergillus ochraceus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial / Q000379:methods; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D003470:Culture Media; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D007194:India; D012275:Oryza / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D016604:Aflatoxin B1