FACTSHEETS FOR FARMERS

www.plantwise.orgCreated in Pakistan, 2017

Chilies AflatoxinRecognize the problemThe aflatoxins are a group of chemically similar toxic fungal metabolites (mycotoxins) produced by certain moulds of the genus Aspergillus growing on a number of raw food commodities. Aflatoxins are highly toxic compounds and can cause both acute and chronic toxicity in humans and many other animals Aflatoxin contamination has posed serious problems in commerce and international trade of chillies because of stringent quality standards imposed on aflatoxin contamination by many importing countries. Aflatoxins may be present in a wide range of food commodities, particularly cereals, oilseeds, spices and tree nuts. Maize, groundnuts (peanuts), pistachios, chillies, black pepper, dried fruit and figs are all known to be high risk foods for aflatoxin contamination.

BackgroundAfla-toxigenic fungi are soil-borne fungi, which are saprophytic (depend on other) during most of their life cycle, and grow on wide variety of substrates, including decaying plant and animal debris. High levels are carcinogenic and can cause cancer. The most appropriate reason of aflatoxin in chillies is poor harvest management that is picking, handling, drying (figure 1) and grading, packing, storage and transportation. An aflatoxin free chilli is only possible by proper picking, good handling practices, necessary improvement of traditional sun drying practices (figure 2), and introduction of commercial scale mechanical or solar dryers. The potential for chillies can be optimized through increasing per acre yield, improving the quality, minimizing post-harvest losses, introducing new drying technology and finding new markets.

ManagementFollowing interventions may be carried out to achieve the gold standard of less than 2 ng/g of any aflatoxins in any product.

• Improve the harvest method and adoption of proper phytosanitary measures.• Use of solar/mechanical dryers or drying sheets.• Avoid unnecessary high amounts of fertilizers that promote heavy vegetation at

the expense of fruit production and encourage foliar diseases. Aspergillus can feed and develop on dead leaves that accumulate when vegetation is too lush.

• Changes in harvesting practices; better screening of hand labour and use of appropriate biologically stable barrier between soil and drying chillies.

• Introduction of ELISA testing at the farm gate to check toxicity levels and develop traceability protocols.

• Lower moisture content of plant seeds, after post-harvesting and during storage. Moisture content and relative humidity should not be more than 14 and 60 per cent, respectively in the stored area.

• Store properly packed chillies in damp free well-aerated storerooms at room temperature (25–28 ºC).

• Use fungicides and preservatives against fungal growth and destroy completely the contaminated products.

Scientific name(s) > Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus nomius, Aspergillus parasiticus, Aspergillus tamarii

The recommendations in this factsheet are relevant to: Pakistan

Authors: Lalchand Mukwana Agriculture Department Government of Sindhtel: +923003313886 email: lalchand2@yahoo.com Edited by Plantwise.

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Poor drying of Chillies the main reason for Aflatoxin development in Chillies. (Photo by Lal Chand, Agriculture Officer Sindh)

DRYING SHEETS: Sheets save chillies from moisture and they get dry sooner than in traditional method of spreading them on open ground. (Photo by Lal Chand, Agriculture Officer Sindh)

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