Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Sep 8:9:956077.
doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.956077. eCollection 2022.

Aflatoxin tests in herbal products and its quantification: Latest updates

Simon Vienoth Victor Jeyaraj  1 , Mei Jun Loy  2 , Khang Wen Goh  3 , Yen Loong Lean  1 , Siok Yee Chan  4 , Long Chiau Ming  5
Affiliations
Review

Aflatoxin tests in herbal products and its quantification: Latest updates

Simon Vienoth Victor Jeyaraj et al. Front Nutr. .

Abstract

Aflatoxin is naturally occurring mycotoxins produced by fungi. The existence of aflatoxin in herbal medicines is a well-known issue. The detection of aflatoxin with good sensitivity and also that is reliable in complex matrices like herbs usually necessitates difficult processes and powerful detection instrument in preparation of sample. This study investigated the global occurrence of aflatoxin contamination herbal products. This article pivots on key breakthroughs in preparation of sample and its importance in analytical technology. Studies from published studies were screened to determine the general level of aflatoxin contamination. The countries involved were Malaysia, Indonesia, Kenya, Brazil, Nigeria, Thailand, South Africa, and Morocco. This review also includes recent studies on the development and application of screening assays such as lateral flow immunoassays, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, aptamer-based lateral flow assays, and cytometric bead arrays, as well as traditional chromatographic techniques for aflatoxin qualification or quantitation. The current study looks at aflatoxin contamination of key herbal drug raw material, which are frequently used in the production of numerous herbal pharmaceuticals. Contamination of aflatoxin might occur in herbal products if the ingredients such as medicinal herbs and plants that are used in manufacturing of herbal products are not dried thoroughly or stored inappropriately after preparation.

Keywords: contamination; food safety; international health regulations; patient safety; sustainable food production.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

References

    1. Liew WP, Mohd-Redzwan S. Mycotoxin: its impact on gut health and microbiota. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. (2018) 8:60. 10.3389/fcimb.2018.00060 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Norlia M, Jinap S, Nor-Khaizura MAR, Radu S, Samsudin NIP, Azri FA. Aspergillus section flavi and aflatoxins: occurrence, detection, and identification in raw peanuts and peanut-based products along the supply chain. Front Microbiol. (2019) 10:2602. 10.3389/fmicb.2019.02602 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bouin AS, Wierer M. Quality standards of the European pharmacopoeia. J Ethnopharmacol. (2014) 158:454–7. 10.1016/j.jep.2014.07.020 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hamidou F, Rathore A, Waliyar F, Vadez V. Although drought intensity increases aflatoxin contamination, drought tolerance does not lead to less aflatoxin contamination. Field Crops Res. (2014) 156:103–10. 10.1016/j.fcr.2013.10.019 - DOI
    1. Ayelign A, De Saeger S. Mycotoxins in Ethiopia: current status, implications to food safety and mitigation strategies. Food Control. (2020) 113:107163. 10.1016/j.foodcont.2020.107163 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources