Detection of Aflatoxins and Ochratoxin A Residues in Meat Products with Amelioration by Probiotics

Abstract

A total of 125 samples of basterma, burger, luncheon, minced meat and kofta (25 / each) were collected from meat markets in Aswan to study the presence of aflatoxins and  ochratoxin A using competitive direct enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (CD-ELISA) technique. Moreover, the role of probiotics in residues' detoxification was carried out. The detection rates of aflatoxins versus ochratoxin A residues in the examined basterma, luncheon and minced meat samples were (80% Vs 92%), (92% Vs 80%) and (76% Vs 72%) respectively. The detection rate for both toxins was the same in burger (96%) and kofta (88%) samples. It was found that Lactobacillus acidophilus could reduce the aflatoxins and ochratoxin A in experimentally  spiked burger to 0.12 µg/Kg (97.2%), 0.57 µg/Kg (61%), respectively, while Saccharomyces serevisae could reduce the aflatoxins in spiked burger to 0.17 µg/Kg (96%) and ochratoxin A to 0.43 µg/Kg (71.1%). It could be concluded that meat products represent a potential source of aflatoxins and ochratoxin A for consumers and probiotics significantly decrease the aflatoxins and ochratoxin A in meat products. Monitoring of meat products for mycotoxins and use of preventive compounds should be practiced.