Mycobiota Contaminant and Occurrence of Aflatoxins in Maize Flour

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by fungi and pose a potential risk to human health when present in food. Among the mycotoxins, aflatoxins are the most important and most studied. The presence of toxigenic fungi in maize flour is not necessarily the presence of mycotoxins, but represents a warning for increased attention to agricultural practices, both in the choice of grain for planting, maize harvest, transport, processing to form flour, storage and marketing of this product. The fungi most frequently isolated in maize derivatives are Aspergillus spp, Penicillium spp and Fusarium spp. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a potent carcinogen classified as belonging to group 1 of the potentially carcinogenic substances. The consumption of pre-cooked floc maize meal with undesirable mycotoxicological characteristics may be a hazard to human health. In view of the importance of toxigenic fungi and mycotoxins, this work aimed to verify the occurrence of toxigenic fungi and aflatoxins in 112 samples of flaked maize meal.