Rahma Abubakr

Abstract

Mycotoxins are natural toxins produced by fungus. These toxins are food and feed contaminants inducing diverse toxicological effects on human and animal health that may affect different organs. These adverse effects may be hepatotoxic, nephrotoxic and neurotoxic; these effects may be acute or chronic implying that even traces amount of mycotoxins, may accumulate over time and become problematic. The occurrence of mycotoxins in food and feed are thus an issue of critical importance and is of main concern worldwide. Among the efforts that are being made to limits mycotoxins occurrence in food are the laws and regulations on their permissible limits. For instance, the permissible limits of Aflatoxins in peanuts are 4 ng/g for total aflatoxins and 2 ng/g for aflatoxin B1. These limits and regulations are based on human risk assessment studies, data about the occurrence of mycotoxins in various commodities, and the availability of sensitive and accurate analytical methods for their determination. In this work we developed a rapid, selective, sensitive, accurate and validated method for the simultaneous quantification of aflatoxins using LC-ESI-MS/MS. The developed method was applied on different sample matrices; peanuts (n = 45), lentils (n = 10), beans (n = 3), and wheat (n =2). The first ever reported data on the occurrence and levels of aflatoxins in peanuts in Greater Cairo are presented. The results presented here show that the investigated peanuts samples from 5 different regions in Greater Cairo contain mean concentrations of total aflatoxin ranging from 16.69 to 101.93 ng/g which are 4 to 25.5 times higher than the permissible limits set by the European Union and FDA.

Department

Chemistry Department

Degree Name

MS in Chemistry

Graduation Date

2-1-2018

Submission Date

September 2017

First Advisor

Tamer Shoeib, Gihan El Moghazy

Committee Member 1

Ramadan, Adham

Committee Member 2

Abdel Ghani, Nour Eldin

Extent

65 p.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Rights

The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Not necessary for this item

Comments

American University in Cairo And The Regional Center for Food and Feed, Agriculture Research Center.

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