• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.75-82
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• 2013

The simultaneous analysis and monitoring of aflatoxin $B_1$, $G_1$, $B_2$, $G_2$ and ochratoxin A in foods were carried out by HPLC with fluorescence detection. The samples were extracted with methanol/water mixture. The extract was centrifuged, diluted with phosphate buffer saline (PBS), filtered, and applied to an immunoaffinity column containing antibodies specific to both aflatoxins and ochratoxin A. After washing the column with PBS and water, the toxins were eluted from the column with methanol, and quantified by HPLC, with a run time of approximately 30 min. The recoveries for aflatoxin $B_1$, $G_1$, $B_2$, $G_2$ and ochratoxin A in foods were 78.4~101.5%, 73.3~102.1%, 81.7~106.7%, 67.0~104.6% and 78.7~120.8%, respectively. The limits of detection of aflatoxins and ochratoxin A ranged from 0.05 to $0.18{\mu}g/kg$. According to monitoring result with the established method, aflatoxin $B_1$ and ochratoxin A were found in 13 of 151 domestic commercial foods. The contamination levels were $0.32{\sim}1.80{\mu}g/kg$ for aflatoxin $B_1$ and $0.97{\mu}g/kg$ for ochratoxin A. Therefore, this study showed all commercial foods monitored were safe under the Korean standards for aflatoxins and ochratoxin A.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.424-434
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• 2011

The increase in the consumption of herb medicines have made their use a public health problem due to the potential fungal contamination and the risk of the presence of my cot ox ins. 360 samples of herb medicines were evaluated for the aflatoxin contamination. The natural occurrence of aflatoxins in these samples were determined using immunoaffinity column clean up and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with post-column derivatization. For samples analyzed, mean levels (incidence) of AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2 in positive samples were $1.4\;{\mu}g/kg$(46.4%), $0.4\;{\mu}g/kg$(25.4%), $1.1\;{\mu}g/kg$(37.8%) and $0.9\;{\mu}g/kg$(24.3%), respectively. Recoveries of the full analytical procedure were 71.7~99.7% for AFB1, 88.1~99.2% for AFB2, 82.8~95.5% for AFG1 and 77.9~90.0% for AFG2. The excess cancer risk estimated using the cancer potency of aflatoxin B1 (7 $(mg/kg/day)^{-1}$ for $HBsAg^-$ and 230 $(mg/kg/day)^{-1}$ for $HBsAg^+$) were $1.30{\times}10^{-5}{\sim}1.22{\times}10^{-7}$ for hepatits B surface antigen negative ($HBsAg^-$) and $3.31{\times}10^{-4}{\sim}3.12{\times}10^{-6}$ for hepatits B surface antigen positive ($HBsAg^+$) respectively. In conclusion, although the contamination levels of samples used in the study were low, further actions are also required to undertake a program of herbal surveys in order to access mycotoxin contamination overall so that the safety of public will be protected.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.438-446
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• 2020

Meju and nuruk (respectively soybean and malt) are traditional Korean fermentation starters that are vulnerable to contamination by harmful microorganisms such as aflatoxigenic fungi and their associated aflatoxins (AFs). In this study, Aspergillus spp. were isolated and identified from a total of 57 meju and 18 nuruk samples collected from Korean markets. Their potential aflatoxigenicity was investigated by examining the presence of three aflatoxin biosynthetic genes (aflO, aflP, and aflR) using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR) assays. Thereafter, aflatoxin production of isolates and the natural occurrence of AFs in meju and nuruk samples were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A total of 177 Aspergillus isolates were identified and 130 isolates were obtained from meju samples. Of these, 25 isolates (19.2%) contained all three aflatoxin biosynthetic genes, and five (20%) of these isolates produced aflatoxins. Forty-seven of the Aspergillus isolates were obtained from nuruk samples, five of which (10.6%) expressed all three AF biosynthetic genes; however, none of these strains produced AFs. HPLC analysis showed that 88% (51/58) of the meju samples and 39% (7/18) of nuruk samples were not contaminated with AFs (below limit of detection). Among the isolates isolated from meju and nuruk, there were aflatoxigenic strains containing all three aflatoxin biosynthetic genes or producing aflatoxin in medium, but the frequency of aflatoxin contamination was low in the meju and nuruk samples.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.453-459
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• 2018

This study was performed to investigate the contamination levels of heavy metals (such as lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury) and aflatoxin (such as $B_1$, $B_2$, $G_1$ and $G_2$) in commercial herbs for food and medicine. The concentrations of the heavy metals were measured by the ICP-MS and a mercury analyzer. The aflatoxins were analyzed by a HPLC-florescence coupled with photochemical derivatization. The detection ranges of the lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury were found to be 0.006~4.088 mg/kg, 0.002~2.150 mg/kg, ND~0.610 mg/kg and ND~0.0139 mg/kg respectively. Among the total samples, the 3 samples (2.6%) were not suitable for the specification of cadmium by the MFDS (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety). The 13 samples of the total 117 samples were aflatoxin positive (11.1%). The amount of aflatoxin $G_1$ was $0.7834{\mu}g/kg$ in the Puerariae Radix and aflatoxin $G_2$ were $0.3517{\mu}g/kg$, $0.4881{\mu}g/kg$ in two samples of the Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, respectively. The aflatoxins $B_2$ and $G_1$ were simultaneously detected in the 10 Angelicae Gigantis Radix. The detection ranges of aflatoxins $B_2$ and $G_1$ were $0.2324{\sim}1.0358{\mu}g/kg$ and $0.7552{\sim}1.6545{\mu}g/kg$ respectively in Angelicae Gigantis Radix. The results of the current study suggest that continuous monitoring is needed for the proactive management of commercial herbs for food and medicine safety.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.346-352
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• 2007

Contamination of aflatoxins(AFs) was monitored in 447 compound feeds and 138 feed ingredients samples distributed in South KOREA in 2006 and 2007. The degree of $AFB_1\;and\;AFB_2$ contamination in compound feed was 20% and 3%, respectively. The levels of detection were ranged from 0.48 to 10.46 ppb for $AFB_1$ and from 0.25 to 0,42 ppb for $AFB_2$. Thirty eight percent of compound feeds were contaminated with $AFB_1$ at concentration between 0.43 and 5.52 ppb and $AFB_2$ was detected in 2% of compound feeds at levels ranging 0.26-0.40 ppb. The highest degree of $AFB_1$ contamination was observed in compound feeds for beef cattle (75%) followed by for dairy cattle (72%) and in bran among feed ingredients (30%). Bran exhibited the highest level of $AFB_1$contamination (3.1 ppb). Vegetable proteins and compound feeds for dog showed relative lower degree of contamination at 2.9 and 1.9 ppb, respectively. $AFG_1\;and\;AFG_2$ were not detected in any compound feeds and feed ingredients samples.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2011

HACCP methodology was applied in the post-harvest processing and storage of domestic medicinal produces. Particularly in terms of mold and mycotoxin contamination, candidate critical control points (CCP) in the conventional practice in Korean farms were selected and monitored by comparing with on the standard guided processing and storage. When each processing of Angelicae Gigantis Radix were assessed for their safety, the drying steps such as the sun drying or the thermal drying depending on each farm made differences in mold contamination. Moreover, the storage conditions before or after the processing were another critical determinant in the fungal contamination. In other words, storage under $4{\circ}C$ rather than at room temperature was favorable for reducing mold growth in the harvested crops. Occurrence rate of Aflatoxin $B_1 \;(AFB_1)$ in Angelicae Gigantis Radix were 12.8%, but amount of $AFB_1$ in all the collected samples were below 10 ppb regulatory limit allowed in Korea. However, for a few samples of Angelicae Gigantis Radix, still relatively high levels of total amount of the major aflatoxins (aflatoxin $B_1\; +\; B_2\; +\; G_1\; +\; G_2$) were observed around 0.18~49.94 ppb, which is not regulated presently in Korea. It thus can be suggested that post-harvest processing and storage of Korean medicinal crops need further investigation and monitoring to establish the Good Agricultural Practice (GAP), particularly to minimize microbial risk including mold and mycotoxin contamination under the changing climate. Additionally, it is also warranted for new enacting of regulatory limits for total aflatoxins in the medicinal crops.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.164-170
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• 1998

In this study a commercial fermented milk produced in Korea and a Lactobacillus strain used for the product (L. casei) were found to affect mold growth and inhibit aflatoxin production by Aspergillus parasiticus ATCC 15517. Aflatoxins were determined using an HPLC system that consisted of a $C_{18}$ column and a fluorescence detector. When the fermented milk was added to the yeast-extract broth the levels of aflatoxin $B_{1}\;and\;G_{1}$ significantly decreased by 48.6~58.1% and 29.8~34.2%, respectively (p$B_{1}\;and\;G_{1}$ were found in comparison with the control (monoculture). L. casei was found to be very inhibitory to the growth of A. parasiticus for 5 days, but no significant difference of mycelial weight was observed between the mixed culture and control at the end of incubation. The pH values of the culture broth in mixed culture were observed to be significantly lower than those in monoculture (p

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.79-86
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• 2002

Aflatoxin is a secondary fungal metabolite and is a public health hazard because it is a human carcinogenic and has many deleterious effects in men and animals. Rice is one of the better substrates far the fungus which can produce aflatoxins. This study was performed to investigate aflatoxin reduction during the cooking and processing of rice. Aflatoxin was produced by Aspergillus parasiticus ATCC 15517 on well-milled rice (Japonica type) at the level of 13.2 ppb. Cooked rice, rice cakes (baek-sol-gi, plain steamed rice bread), fermented rice (sikhye, sweet rice beverage), and popped rice were prepared from the aflatoxin-contaminated rice. Aflatoxin content in the samples was determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The total aflatoxin level was decreased to 46.9% in the cooked rice, 85.6% in the rice cakes, 11.4% in the fermented rice, and 7.6% in the popped rice, respectively (p.0.05). This reduction brought the level of aflatoxins down to below the Standard and Specification of korea (10 ppb), except for the rice cakes. These results indicate that washing, steaming, fermentation, and popping of rice was helpful in reducing the aflatoxin level in the rice and the most helpful factors were high temperature & high pressure. More research is needed to understand why the preparation of rice cakes did not reduce the level of aflatoxin as much as the other cooking methods.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.303-313
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• 2021

Peanuts in storage were estimated for mycotoxigenic fungi and mycotoxins. Peanut samples collected from storages in Gochang were mainly contaminated with Fusarium (17.2±28.0%), Penicillium (12.4±28.0%), and Aspergillus (8.0±7.6%). Other genera, including Talaromyces, Rhizopus, Rhizoctonia, Trichocladium, Clonostachys, Mucor, Chaetomium, Trametes, Epicoccum, and Humicola, were also found. Although aflatoxins were not detected in the peanut samples, 29 strains of Aspergillus flavus were identified using molecular marker genes. Among them, 17 selected isolates produced aflatoxins in solid culture media ranging from 0.61-187.82 ㎍/kg. All of them could produce both aflatoxin B₁ and B₂ and some (n=5) produced additional G₁, G₂, or both. This study is the first report that A. flavus stains obtained from Korean stored peanut are aflatoxigenic.

• Mycobiology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.170-174
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• 2002

A total of twenty-nine species and one species variety belonging to 12 genera was isolated from 30 samples of molasses on 1% glucose(10 genera, 22 species and 1 variety) and 50% sucrose(7, 21 and 1) Czapek's agar at $25^{\circ}C$ media. Aspergillus, Mucor, Mycosphaerella and Penicillium were the most common genera on the two types of media. From the above genera, the most prevalent species were: Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, Mycosphaerella tassiana, Penicillium chrysogenum, P. oxalicum and P. purpurogenum. Also, some species were only isolated on 50% sucrose such as Eurotium amstelodami, E. chevalieri, E. repens, Humicola fuscoatra, Penicillium aurantiogriseum and P. puberulum. About 65 fungal isolates isolated from 50% sucrose agar were tested for their ability to produce invertase enzyme in liquid medium and 93.8% of the isolates could produce this enzyme. From the positive isolates, 32 showed high invertase activity, 21 had moderate activity and the remaining 8 isolates were of weak activity. Sixty isolates of Aspergillus, Emericella, Eurotium, Mycosphaerella and Penicillium from the preceding study were screened for the presence of their respective mycotoxins. Larva of brine shrimp(Artema sauna L.) were used for toxicity test of the fungal crude extracts. Three isolates out of 60 tested were toxic. Using thin-layer chromatographic technique, 5 different known mycotoxin were detected aflatoxins : B1, B2, G1, G2 and citrinin.