INTERNATIONAL FOOD RESEARCH JOURNAL, vol.27, no.2, pp.245-251, 2020 (SCI-Expanded)
The aim of the present work was to investigate aflatoxins in dried figs from Izmir, Turkey. A total of 1,973 samples of dried figs were obtained from retail shops and public outlets from 2014 to 2018. Aflatoxin contamination was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) following clean-up by immunoaffinity (IAC). The obtained results were evaluated against the maximum limit set by the Turkish Regulation and European Commission for total aflatoxins (AF(S)) and aflatoxin B-1 (AFB(1)). The number of samples exceeding the legal limit was 40 according to the Commission Regulation (EU) No 1058/2012 for the limit of aflatoxin B-1 (6 mu g/kg), and 42 samples exceeded the legal limit for the total aflatoxin content (10 mu g/kg). Thirty-four and forty-two samples of dried figs exceeded the legal limit for AFB(1) and AF(S) (8 and 10 mu g/kg, respectively) based on the Turkish Food Codex. (C) All Rights Reserved