Surveying of the Aflatoxin Content of the Some Cereal Products in Senegal

Abstract

Cereal processing has undergone a great change with the emergence of agro-food small and medium-sized entreprise (SME) in West Africa and particularly in Senegal. But the quality of the products from these units mainly linked to aflatoxin remains the factor that limits their positioning in the international market. This study was conducted to investigation of toxic substance contents of some products in Senegal.

It is demonstrated that the most affected products are “thiere” and “thiacry” with respectively a contamination contents rate of 57% and an average content of 4.76 ppb and with a rate of 43% and an average content of 7.76 ppb. Because “thiéré” and “thiacry” are produced in the vast majority of units, from a formulation combining millet flour with that of corn which is often contaminated by aflatoxin (62.57%) at levels that are sometimes high (levels greater than 100ppb).

Ultimately, this study shows that cereal processing exposes the products to certain contamination by aflatoxin.