Abstract

Quality assessment is very important for safe food surety. Aflatoxins are toxic and persuasive carcinogenic species and may harm human health badly. In the present study the quality assessment of aflatoxins contamination in red chilies was done by using TLC (Thin Layer Chromatographic) technique. Total 100 red chilli samples collected from various localities of Lahore were checked for aflatoxin contamination and the extent of aflatoxin contamination in the red chilli samples was found quite high. The aflatoxin B1 amount in samples ranges from min 0.2μgKg-1 to max 695.29μgKg-1 while aflatoxin B2 in samples ranges from 0.73-15.33μgKg-1. Aflatoxins G1 and G2 were absent in all samples. It was found that 88% of the red chilli samples were contaminated with aflatoxin and 64% samples were containing aflatoxins beyond permissible limits. The results show a dejected condition of the red chillies which are unfit for human consumption. The supply of red chillies in Lahore, Pakistan is alarmingly dreadful for Humans health as aflatoxin may cause cancer when exceed permissible limits. The main reason for contamination of aflatoxins in chilli samples is the lack of implementing quality practices.

Keywords: Aflatoxin; Red chilli; Thin layer chromatography; Quality