Effect of Lactation Period and Parity Order on Aflatoxin M1 in Milk from Smallholder Farms in Enrekang, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract Aflatoxins (AFs) are naturally toxic compounds produced by a specific type of fungi, which subsequently contaminate foods and animal feeds, potentially carcinogenic to humans. This study aimed to assess Aflatoxin AFB1 in animal feeds and the effect of lactation period and parity order on Aflatoxin AFM1 in addition to aflatoxin M1 in local cheese “DANGKE”. A total of 39 raw cow milk samples, 12 and 16 roughage and concentrated feed samples were randomly obtained from smallholder dairy farms in Enrekang, and they were examined in terms of AFM1 and AFB1 using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method. The prevalence of Aflatoxin B1 in roughage animal feed was 8.33%, with a mean of concentration range of 7.32µg/kg above the detection limit in positive samples. The concentrated feed has a different amount of Aflatoxin B1 according to the type of feed used in the farm, ranging from 6.04 to 58.74µg/kg with a mean of 27.8µ/kg and the positive samples representing 37.5% for all concentrated feed samples. It was found that 69.2% of milk samples had aflatoxin, the contamination level ranging from 3.08±4.35 to 7.95±0.24µg/kg with a mean 5.05±3.50µg/kg above a limit of detection. All samples from cheese showed negative results for AFM1. The results showed no relation between the amount of aflatoxin AFM1 and lactation period and parity order (P˃0.05). In contrast, the interaction between lactation period and parity order significantly (P<0.05) affected aflatoxin M1 in raw cow milk. Contamination of animal feeds and raw cow milk has a potential health risk to consumers. Therefore, increase awareness and knowledge of aflatoxin, as well as proper handling, storage, and monitoring of feeds among the stakeholders in the dairy value chain.