AUTHOR=Ismail Amir , Akhtar Saeed , Riaz Muhammad , Gong Yun Yun , Routledge Michael N. , Naeem Iqra TITLE=Prevalence and Exposure Assessment of Aflatoxins Through Black Tea Consumption in the Multan City of Pakistan and the Impact of Tea Making Process on Aflatoxins JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=11 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00446 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2020.00446 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=

Aflatoxins are the highly toxic secondary metabolites of certain fungi, being mainly produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Aflatoxins are classified as group 1 category carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). A large number of food commodities are reported to be contaminated with aflatoxins. Tea is the world’s second most consumed beverage and the consumption of tea is increasing day by day. Besides being a source of several health promoting substances, tea leaves are also reported to be contaminated with aflatoxins. However, not a single study is reported from Pakistan regarding the level of aflatoxins in commercially available black tea samples. The current study aimed to quantify the level of aflatoxins in commercially available branded and non-branded black tea samples. The estimated daily intake (EDI) of aflatoxins through branded and non-branded black tea consumption and the health risk assessment based on margin of exposure (MOE) approach was assessed. Furthermore, the impact of local tea making processes on the concentration of aflatoxins in tea beverage (filtrate) was also investigated.