Aflatoxins contamination in spices and processed spice products commercialized in Korea

A survey for total aflatoxins (aflatoxins B₁, B₂, G₁, and G₂) was conducted on 88 spices and processed spice products commercialized in Korea. The presence of aflatoxins was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detector using immunoaffinity column clean-up. Total aflatoxins (AFs) are detected in 12 samples (13.6% of incidence) including seven red pepper powder, two red pepper pastes (Kochujang), two curry and one ginger product. The contamination levels are 0.08–4.45 μg/kg as aflatoxin B₁ and 0.08–4.66 μg/kg as AFs. The liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) analysis on contaminated samples was conducted for the confirmation of detected aflatoxins. The 12 samples which showed aflatoxins by HPLC/FLD were confirmed as aflatoxins by LC–MS/MS.