Prevalence of aflatoxin contamination in cereals from Nandi county, Kenya
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Date
2015Author
Sirma, Anima J
Ouko, Elizabeth O
Murithi, Gatwiri
Mburugu, Christine
Mapenay, Isaac
Ombui, Jackson N
Kang’ethe, Erastus K
Korhonen, Hannu
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Aflatoxins are secondary fungal metabolites that contaminate cereals, other crops and animal
source foods and are a recognized health risk. Kenya has had several outbreaks of aflatoxicosis
affecting humans and pets. The aim of this study was to compare aflatoxin levels in cereals, the
staple diet of Kenyans, in Nandi where aflatoxicosis has not been reported despite being a
maize growing area. Maize, sorghum and millet were sampled from households and also from
markets serving various villages in the selected sub-locations (408 samples). The samples
were tested for total aflatoxin contamination using cELISA. Households in the study sub-locations
depended on homegrown grains than market sourced. Sixty seven point nine percent (72/106),
73.3% (44/60) and 65.7% (67/102) of maize samples collected from Laboret, Kilibwoni and
Chepkongony were contaminated with aflatoxins ranging between 0.17-5.3 parts per billion (ppb).
Ninety two point nine percent (13/14), 100% (9/9) and 87.5% (14/16) of millet samples from
Laboret, Kilibwoni and Chepkongony were positive for aflatoxin at a range of 0.14-6.4 ppb. Fifty
percent (9/18), 36.4% (8/22) and 27.3% (6/22) of sorghum samples from Laboret, Kilibwoni and
Chepkongony, respectively were contaminated with aflatoxins beyond Kenya Bureau of Standards
(KEBS) maximum tolerable limits of 10 ppb. To manage aflatoxin contamination of the cereals
in Nandi, the county government needs to step up awareness creation of the dangers posed by
chronic aflatoxin exposure to households through cereals and promote good Agricultural practices.
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http://www.ijasvm.com/ijasvmadmin/upload/IJASVM_55fee08b724e1.pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11295/95862
Citation
Int. J. Agric.Sc & Vet.Med., Vol. 3, No. 3, August 2015Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
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