Detection of Aflatoxins in Tomato and Pepper Pastes Sold in Market Places of Istanbul, Turkey

The aim of this study is to determine the amount of total aflatoxins and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in tomato and pepper pastes sold in local market places in Istanbul to evaluate whether aflatoxin levels were within the standards regarded as safe (<5 μg kg). For this purpose, a total of 64 samples, including 26 tomato pastes, 15 paprika pastes, and 23 chili pastes, were analysed using two different detection methods, enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). By ELISA, total aflatoxins were detected in 27 samples (1-2.5 μg kg), and AFB1 was detected at a level of 1 μg kg in 20 samples. Furthermore, 21 of 64 samples were found to contain total aflatoxins (0.21-2.34 μg kg), with 16 of them contaminated with AFB1 (0.22-2.34 μg kg) by HPLC. The obtained results showed that both methods were suitable for aflatoxin determination in tomato and pepper paste samples and the samples have been proven to be within the standards considered as safe.