Determination of Aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 in Olive Oil, Peanut Oil, and Sesame Oil was adopted

Determination of Aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 in Olive Oil, Peanut Oil, and Sesame Oil was adopted as AOAC Official Method 2013.05

   Edible oils, consumed worldwide, can be contaminated by aflatoxins and pose a hazard to public health. Regulatory limits for aflatoxins in edible oils has already established in many countries. Fully validated methods for determining AFs contamination in edible oil are needed to obtain reliable analytical results in order to ensure consumer protection and food safety.

   Recently the method in Determination of Aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 in Olive Oil, Peanut Oil, and Sesame Oil using Immunoaffinity Column Clean-up, Post-column derivatization and Liquid Chromatography/Fluorescence Detection Collaborative Study was adopted as First Action Official Method of Analysis on March 29, 2013. The method was assigned Official Methods number 2013.05.

   Dr. Lei Bao, Biotoxins Reference Laboratory of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China (AQSIQ) and president of the AOAC China Section, is the study director of this method. She developed the method with Dr. Mary Trucksess, FDA/CFSAN (retired), and did the single-lab validation study during 2009-2010. Results of the SLV study meet the AOAC method performance criteria and indicate the method is accurate and repeatable.

   On Jan, 2011, collaborative study protocol was approved by AOAC method committee. Dr. Lei Bao organized an international collaborative study involving 15 laboratories from 6 countries. The accuracy, repeatability, and reproducibility characteristics were established in the study. Average recoveries of AFs from olive oil, peanut oil and sesame oil ranged from 84 to 92% (at spiking levels ranging from 2.0 to 20.0 µg/kg), and of AFB1, from 86 to 93% (at spiking levels ranging from 1.0 to 10.0 µg/kg), and of AFB2, from 89 to 95% (at spiking levels ranging from 0.25 to 2.5 µg/kg), and of AFG1, from 85 to 97% (at spiking levels ranging from 0.5 to 5.0µg/kg), and of AFG2, from 76 to 85% (at spiking levels ranging from 0.25 to 2.5µg/kg). Relative standard deviations for within-laboratory repeatability (RSDr) ranged from 3.4 to 10.2% for AFs, from 3.5 to 10.9% for AFB1, from 3.2 to 9.5% for AFB2, from 6.5 to 14.9% for AFG1, and from 4.8 to 14.2% for AFG2.  Relative standard deviations for between-laboratory reproducibility (RSDR) ranged from 6.1 to 14.5% for AFs, from 7.5 to 15.4% for AFB1, from 7.1 to 14.6% for AFB2, from 10.8 to 18.1% for AFG1, and from 7.6 to 23.7% for AFG2. HorRat values were ≤2 for the analytes in the three matrixes.