Aflatoxins in milk and milk products

Mikotoksini su kemijski spojevi koji su različite strukture te različitog biološkog učinka. Posjeduju visoku akutnu toksičnost koja je često povezana uz maligne bolesti. Aflatoksini su skupina mikotoksina koje sintetizira ograničen broj sojeva plijesni iz rodova Aspergillus, Penicillium i Fusarium. Najvažniji aflatoksini, vezani za mlijeko i mliječne proizvode, su: B1 i B2 (prisutni u krmivu životinja) te M1 i M2 (hidroderivati aflatoksina B1 i B2), a izlučuju se u mlijeku, mokraći i stolici. Na sreću, veliki je raspon između koncentracije toksina u krmivu i iznosa ostataka u životinjskim proizvodima. Odnos aflatoksina B1 i aflatoksina M1 u mlijeku je približno 300:1. Za određivanje aflatoksina danas se najčešće koriste imunokemijske metode (ELISA – Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) prilikom rutinskih analiza jer su vrlo jednostavni i brzi. Ako je pozitivan rezultat ELISA testa, provode se potvrdne metode koje su daleko osjetljivije i specifičnije (tekućinska kromatografija s masenom spektrometrijom i visoko djelotvorna kromatografija s fluoroscentnom detekcijom).Mycotoxins are chemical compounds that have different structures and different biological effects. They are having high acute toxicity, which is often associated with malignant diseases. Aflatoxins are a group of mycotoxins which synthesize a limited number of strains molds of the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium. The most important aflatoxins, related to milk and milk products, are: B1 and B2 (present in the feed of animals) and M1 and M2 (hydroderivates aflatoxin B1 and B2). They are excreted in milk, urine and stool. Fortunately, there is a large gap between the concentration of toxins in feed and the amount of residues in animal products. Ratio of aflatoxin B1 and aflatoxin M1 in milk is about 300:1. For the determination of aflatoxin, today are commonly used imunoassays (ELISA - Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) during routine analysis because they are very simple and quick. If the positive result of ELISA, confirmatory methods are conducted which are far more sensitive and more specific (liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry and higheffective chromatography with fluorescence detection)