Detection of aflatoxin B1 in imported food products into Japan by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and high performance liquid chromatography.

In order to detect the presence of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), the use of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and recovery test was evaluated. The detection limit of ELISA for AFB1 was 1 pg/assay and the recovery from maize spiked with AFB1 exceeded 80%. AFB1 was detected by ELISA in seven out of twelve samples of imported food products including peanut, almond, red pepper, cocoa bean, black pepper, buckwheat, walnut, adlay, soybean, popcorn, and pistachio nut, and by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in four of the samples. However, the content of AFB1 in these samples was less than 10 ng/g of the minimum value authorized by the Japanese sanitation law. These results demonstrate that ELISA is more sensitive than HPLC and imported food products are broadly contaminated with AFB1.