natural occurrence of major mycotoxins across the ginger value chain in nigeria

Background: ginger which serves as both spices and medicine is susceptible to mycotoxin contamination. this research determined the incidence of major mycotoxins, including aflatoxins (afs), ochratoxin a (ota), and fumonisins (fbs) in nigerian ginger sampled from two main ginger producing states of nigeria.methods: totally, 105 ginger samples were collected including freshly harvested and dried sliced forms. these samples were collected randomly across five stations; farms, aggregating points, processing points, open markets, and storage facilities during the rainy season in june, 2019. the samples were analysed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) and read by a microplate reader.results: incidence of the studied mycotoxins was 80.9, 68.6, and 90.5% for afs, ota, and fbs, respectively. while there were low levels of ota and fbs across the various sample forms. mean concentrations of afs were 1.77±1.86 μg/kg (0.00-8.68) and 6.46±6.71 μg/kg (0.00-36.72) in fresh and dried ginger samples, respectively. the results revealed higher levels of af in storage samples (9.04±10.72 μg/kg) and market samples (4.05±4.41 μg/kg) compared to other samples. however, no significant difference (p>0.05) was observed in the level of contamination across the sample sources.conclusion: freshly harvested ginger samples were less contaminated than dried ginger. among the studied toxins, af was found as a potential health concern in nigerian ginger.