Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

The effect of sorting on aflatoxin reduction of pistachio nuts

Author(s):

Ahmad Shakerardekani ^1,2, Roselina Karim ^1*, Fatemeh Mirdamadiha ²

Recieved Date: 2011-09-02, Accepted Date: 2012-01-06

Abstract:

Quality of dried sorted pistachio nuts could have an important role in the aflatoxin B₁ content of final pistachio lot. In order to determine this effect in different pistachio cultivars, samples of Fandoghi, Ahmad Aghaei and Kale-Ghoochi lots were divided to 7 categories based on the physical appearance of dried pistachios which were yellowish-brown stain, dark-greyish stain, large, medium, tiny, damaged and non-split. The aflatoxin content was measured by the TLC-Scanner method and results showed that the average aflatoxin content of the yellowish-brown stained nuts of the Fandoghi, Ahmad Aghaei, and Kale-Ghoochi cultivars were 136.2, 632.4 and 120.3 ng g^-1, respectively, while in the dark-greyish stained nuts contained 28.7, 292.8, 7.3 ng g^-1, respectively. The amount of aflatoxin in the Fandoghi, Ahmad Aghaei and Kale-Ghoochi lots can be significantly (P≤0.05) reduced to 94.6%, 97.2% and 98.8%, respectively, if all the stained nuts were removed from the lot during sorting. The highest aflatoxin B¹ content was detected in the stained nuts of all the cultivars studied. This study showed that segregation or removal of all the stained nuts from the unstained portion during the sorting process could contribute to the reduction of aflatoxin content in the final dried pistachio lot. 

Keywords:

Pistachios, aflatoxin, sorting, contamination, mycotoxins, Aspergillus flavus

---

Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2012
Volume: 10
Issue: 1
Category: Agriculture
Pages: 459-461

---

Full text for Subscribers

---

Information:

Note to users

The requested document is freely available only to subscribers/registered users with an online subscription to the Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment. If you have set up a personal subscription to this title please enter your user name and password. All abstracts are available for free.

Article purchasing

If you like to purchase this specific document such as article, review or this journal issue, contact us. Specify the title of the article or review, issue, number, volume and date of the publication. Software and compilation, Science & Technology, all rights reserved. Your use of this website details or service is governed by terms of use. Authors are invited to check from time to time news or information.

---

Purchase this Article:   20 Purchase PDF Order Reprints for 15

---

Share this article :