Thin-layer and high performance liquid chromatographic methods for the analysis of aflatoxins in animal tissues and fluids

Abstract

The analytical methodology of aflatoxins has been improved greatly and now permits the analysis of complex matrices such as animal tissues. The development of methods for aflatoxins was, and still is, commodity oriented to determine if a toxin problem exists in the commercial food chain. Diligent as many countries are in monitoring food products for mycotoxins, some contaminated agricultural commodities and/or products have been fed to domestic animals [7]. The foods from these animals are potential health hazards to consumers and they require accurate, reliable analytical methods for analyses. In this manuscript, methods will be presented for determining aflatoxins B₁, B₂ and in animal tissues and M₁ and M₂ in milk, as well as the choices that are available for final quantitation-thin-layer chromatography (TLC), high performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC), and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Most of the methods presented have been tested in international collaborative studies, have been adopted by both IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) and the AO AC (Association of Official Analytical Chemists) as official methods, and are being used routinely to monitor aflatoxins.