Aflatoxins contamination in spices and associated predisposing factors in Morogoro region, Tanzania

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dc.contributor.authorPeter, Lilian G.
dc.date.accessioned2021-11-22T07:20:13Z
dc.date.available2021-11-22T07:20:13Z
dc.date.issued2021
dc.descriptionDissertationen_US
dc.description.abstractAflatoxins contamination in spices can result to serious health impact to consumers. Little information is available about levels of aflatoxins in spices traded in Tanzania. This study investigated awareness on aflatoxins and handling, storage and packaging practices of spices in relation to aflatoxins contamination as well as levels in black pepper, cinnamon, cloves and turmeric in Morogoro, Tanzania. A total of 120 spices samples were collected from 52 spice dealers among spice traders and analyzed for aflatoxins B 1 , B 2 , G 1 , G 2 , total aflatoxins and moisture content. Aflatoxins were analyzed using HPLC with fluorescence detector. The association of aflatoxins contamination in spices with traders’ demographic and sociological characteristics, awareness and handling practices were determined using a questionnaire. Results showed that 24.2% of the spice samples were contaminated with aflatoxins; whereby 11.7% was with aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1) . Spices from Morogoro rural had high rate of aflatoxin contamination (33.3%) compared to those from Morogoro municipality (15.0%). Turmeric had the lowest contamination rate of AFB 1 (0.0%) and total aflatoxins (3.3%) while cloves had highest contamination with 20% and 50.0% for AFB 1 and total aflatoxins, respectively. Lowest aflatoxins contamination was 0.2 μg/kg in cloves while the highest was 164.9 μg/kg in black pepper. Percentage of spice samples exceeded European Union regulatory limit was nine point two percent for AFB 1 and 13.3% for total aflatoxins. Majority (96.2%) of spice traders store their spices and storage time varied from 0 to 100 weeks. Among spice dealers who were doing storage, 34.9% of their samples had aflatoxin contaminations. Half of the respondents who were doing sorting, 65.4% of them discarded the rejected spices. Aflatoxin contaminations for the samples from respondent who were not doing sorting was 61.5%. Occurrence of aflatoxins in spices was associated (p>0.05) with sorting, criteria for sorting, handling of rejected spices, storage practices, awareness on causes of spoilage and awareness on aflatoxins in food. It is concluded that spices in the study area were highly contaminated with aflatoxins some of them beyond the maximum limit set by EU. The study revealed limited awareness and knowledge on aflatoxins contamination in spices among spice traders. Awareness creation on aflatoxins contamination in spices and preventive strategies need to be considered to reduce aflatoxins contamination to safeguard health of spices consumers in Morogoro, Tanzania.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipmanagement of Tanzania Bureau of Standardsen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/123456789/3898
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherSokoine University of Agricultureen_US
dc.subjectAflatoxins contaminationen_US
dc.subjectSpicesen_US
dc.subjectAssociated predisposingen_US
dc.subjectMorogoro region,en_US
dc.subjectTanzaniaen_US
dc.titleAflatoxins contamination in spices and associated predisposing factors in Morogoro region, Tanzaniaen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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