Status of aflatoxins contamination in spices produced in Morogoro, Tanzania

Aflatoxins, the toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungi under Aspergillus species in foods, are capable of causing adverse health effects in humans and animals. Information on levels of aflatoxins in spices produced and traded in Tanzania is limited. This study investigated aflatoxins contamination levels in black pepper, cinnamon, cloves and turmeric spices produced and vended in Morogoro district, Tanzania. A total of 120 samples were collected and analyzed for aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, G2 and Total aflatoxins using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detector. Results showed that 24.2% (n=120) of the samples were contaminated with aflatoxins whereby 11.7% (n=120) had AFB1. Spices from Morogoro rural had significantly high (p=0.002) aflatoxins contamination (16.7%; n=120) compared to those from Morogoro Municipality (7.5%; n=120). In reference to each spice samples, turmeric had no AFBI contamination (0.0%) with lowest Total Aflatoxins (3.3%; n=30) while cloves had the highest contamination with 20% (n=30) and 50.0% (n= 30) for AFB1 and Total aflatoxins, respectively. The lowest detected contamination concentration was 0.201μg/kg in cloves while the highest was 164.86μg/kg in black pepper. The spices; Turmeric (0.0%; 3.3%); Cinnamon (16.7%); (20%); cloves (13.3%; 23.3%) and black pepper (6.7%; 6.7%) (n=30) exceeded Tanzania regulatory limit of 5 µg/kg and 10µg/kg for AFB1 and Total aflatoxins contamination levels, respectively. It is concluded that spices produced and marketed in Morogoro were contaminated with aflatoxins some of them beyond the maximum limit set by Tanzania Bureau of Standards risking the health of spices consumers. Awareness creation to spices traders on aflatoxins contamination and preventive measures need to be considered to safeguard health of spices consumers in Morogoro, Tanzania.