Occurrence of aflatoxins in maize feed in Bihar

One hundred twenty maize samples were collected from Samastipur District of Bihar around 15^th day of each month from January to December, 2009 and analysed for the presence of various aflatoxin fractions viz. B₁, B₂, G₁ and G₂, and total aflatoxin. The average content of aflatoxin B₁ and B₂ positive maize samples and the overall average contents of aflatoxin B₁ and B₂ were relatively higher in the months of July, August, September and October as compared to other months. Eighty eight per cent of the maize samples were found to be positive for aflatoxin B₁ and the values ranged from 0.00 to 0.40 ppm with an overall average of 0.13 ppm whereas, in the case of aflatoxin B₂, 61 per cent of the samples were found to be positive for aflatoxin B₂ and the values ranged from 0.00 to 0.30 ppm with an overall average of 0.08 ppm. Forty per cent of the maize samples were found to be positive for aflatoxin G₁ and the values ranged from 0.00 to 0.28 ppm with an overall average of 0.04 ppm whereas, 38 per cent of the samples were found to be positive for aflatoxin G₂ and the values ranged from 0.00 to 0.26 ppm with an overall average of 0.04 ppm. The average content of total aflatoxin positive samples were the highest in the month of July (0.45 ppm) and lowest in the month of December (0.23 ppm). Ninety one per cent of the maize samples were found to be positive for total aflatoxin and the values ranged from 0.00 to 1.00 ppm with an overall average of 0.29 ppm. It may be concluded that the average contents of aflatoxin positive samples were higher in the months of July, August, September and October as compared to other months. The overall average contents of B fractions and total aflatoxin contents were also higher in these months, whereas, the overall average contents of G fractions remained almost similar throughout the year. The percentage of G fractions contamination was relatively higher during winter months.