ASSESSMENT OF FUNGI AND MYCOTOXINS CONTAMINATING ANTIDIABETIC HERBS
This study was conducted to detect the contamination of some mixture of antidiabetic herbs with fungi and mycotoxins producing fungi. 30 of the most popular antidiabetic herbs mixture samples in Diyala Governorate, Iraq were collected from herbal selling stores. The results revealed that 100 % of the examined samples were contaminated with fungi. The total number of colony fungi was in the range between (5.66×103 and 12.33×103) CFU/gm . 252 fungal isolates were isolated belong to genera Aspergillus , Penicilium , Rhizopus , the species were belong to Aspergillus niger, A. terrus, A. verscolor, A. flavus, A. ochraceus, Penicillum expansum, Rhizopus stonifer. HPLC analysis showed that 100% of the samples contained mycotoxins which included Aflatoxin B1, Aflatoxin B2, Aflatoxin G1, Aflatoxin G2 and Ochratoxin A in different concentration. Aflatoxin B1 was found in all samples at a rate ranging (from 1.8 to 6.483) ng/gm, as well as aflatoxin G2 which appeared in all the studied samples and its quantity ranged from (from 2.088 to 3.857) ng/gm, and the study also recorded the presence of toxins aflatoxin B2, G1 and Ochratoxin A in varying proportions between samples and their presence in some samples.
Keywords: Mycotoxins, Diabetic, Herbs mixture, Contamination, Aspergillus