Abstract:Objective To investigate the natural occurrence of four kinds of aflatoxins including AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2 in a total of 738 edible vegetable oil samples collected from eight regions of China. Methods Based on the quick screening of aflatoxins concentration in edible vegetable oil samples using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method, ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) method was employed for the quantification of four kinds of aflatoxins in positive samples. Results The concentrations of total aflatoxins were within 0.06-221.00 μg/kg with the mean level of 19.30 μg/kg. AFB1 was predominant and the positive rate was 17.21% (127/738)with the mean level of 16.20 μg/kg, followed by AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2. Peanut oil was the most heavily contaminated by aflatoxins than other kinds of edible vegetable oil, and the violation rate of AFB1 was 11.57% (25/216). The samples from Guangxi Province also had higher aflatoxins concentrations, and the violation rate of AFB1 was 19.23% (20/104). Moreover, the aflatoxins concentrations in unpacked oil were higher than prepackaged oil. 95.45% (126/132) of the positive samples were detected with more than one type of aflatoxins. Conclusion There were simultaneous occurrence of four kinds of aflatoxins in edible vegetable oil collected from China. AFB1 was predominant. Peanut oil, samples from Guangxi Province and unpacked oil contained relatively high concentrations of aflatoxins, suggesting better monitoring.
