Investigation of aflatoxin and metal concentrations in animal feeds and feed ingredients from Turkey

The contents of aflatoxin B-1 (AFB(1)), aflatoxin B-2 (AFB(2)), aflatoxin G(1) (AFG(1)) aflatoxin G(2) (AFG(2)), aluminium (Al), arsenic (As), barium (Ba), calcium (Ca), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), mercury (Hg), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), sodium (Na), nickel (Ni), phosphorus (P), lead (Pb), selenium (Se), tin (Sn) and zinc (Zn) in animal feed samples in Turkey were screened. Eighty animal feeds and feed ingredients were collected from different cities in Turkey. Aflatoxins were determined using the HPLC instrument after pre-separation using immuno affinity column, and also the instrument of ICP-MS was used for metal determinations. All types of animal feed samples have led concentrations lower than the maximum EU and Turkey regulation limit, while 1.25% and 11.8 of mixed and feed additive samples had AFB(1) and Hg concentrations higher than the maximum limits, respectively. A single correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between AFB(1) and total AFs and metal contents in mixed animal feed samples (p<0.05). A strong positive correlation was found between As and AFB(1) and total AFs contents; whereas Cr was correlated negatively to AFB(1) and total AFs, using single correlation analyses.