Assessment of mycotoxins types in some foodstuff consumed in Rwanda

Occurrence and levels of mycotoxins from maize, peanuts and cassava flours consumed in Rwanda were determined. The assessed mycotoxins include aflatoxins, fumonisins, ochratoxin A, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, T-2 toxin and patulin. Sampling of maize, peanut and cassava flours were randomly drawn from the markets in all four provinces of Rwanda and Kigali City. Mycotoxins occurrence and concentration in flours were assessed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography tandem Mass Spectroscopy (HPLC-MS/MS, Agilent). Results showed that aflatoxins are the most frequent in the analysed foodstuff flours with a frequency of 89%, 100% and 33% in maize, peanut and cassava samples, respectively. The highest total concentrations of mycotoxins in maize flours were 16.8 μg/kg, 48.1 μg/kg and 3.7 μg/kg for aflatoxins, fumonisins and ochratoxin A, respectively. Those quantities reached a total concentration of 126.6 μg/kg, 16.3 μg/kg and 2.8 μg/kg, respectively in peanut flours, while in cassava flours concentrations of 2.7 μg/kg and 3.7 μg/kg for aflatoxins and ochratoxin A, respectively, were detected. Culture of detecting these mycotoxins at regular basis from foods on the markets and increasing awareness amongst consumers and vendors on the toxicity profile of mycotoxins should be instituted by concerned authorities to avoid both human and animal intoxication.