PREVALENCE OF AFLATOXINS IN STORED MAIZE IN BUSIA AND MIGORI COUNTIES OF KENYA

Abstract

Consumption of aflatoxin contaminated maize causes abdominal pains, vomiting, acute liver damage, and other chronic ailments. This study aimed to determine the impact of post-harvest management practices and environmental conditions on prevalence of aflatoxin strains in stored maize. A hundred and seventy-eight maize grain samples were collected from stores: farmers, retailers, wholesaler, National Cereals and Produce Board in Migori and Busia counties. The samples were processed and analysed for individual aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, G2 and their totals. Samples from Migori stores had contamination between 3.04-23.75 μg/kg of B1 and 5.81-61.37 μg/kg of total aflatoxin. The same contamination in samples from Busia stores was between 0.50-1.74 μg/kg and 0.71-3.67 μg/kg respectively. The aflatoxin prevalence trend was B1>G1>B2>G2. The total aflatoxin contamination trend in stores was farmers>retailers>wholesalers>National Cereals and Produce Board for Migori, and retailers>farmers>wholesalers>National Cereals and Produce Board for Busia. Seventy-four percent of samples from Migori stores were contaminated above the allowed 10 μg/kg limit for total aflatoxin whereas all samples from Busia stores were not contaminated. The National Cereals and Produce Board stores adhered to the set standards for drying, storage and practices to prevent aflatoxin development in stored maize, while other stores did not comply to the same.