Contamination of Red Chilli with Aflatoxin B1 in Pakistan

A survey of red chilli (Capsicum indicum) for contamination with aflatoxins was performed on different samples comprising whole, crushed and powdered red chilli collected from various stores located in the city of Karachi, Pakistan. Red chilli required rather rigorous clean-up procedure for removal of adulterants and interference resulting from various types of compounds. A modified Romer method followed by bi-directional thin layer chromatography (TLC) was used for the detection of aflatoxins and confirmatory tests were performed by spraying the TLC plates with 50% sulphuric acid and making the derivative with trifluoroacetic acid. Of all the 176 samples of red chilli examined, 66% were found to be contaminated with aflatoxin B₁. Generally, samples of red chilli exammined were found to be fairly low in aflatoxin B₁ content, whereas only seven samples were found to contain concentrations greater than 25 μg/kg of aflatoxin B₁.