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Economic incentives to control aflatoxin can be complicated. This study focuses on the differences in the economic costs of implementing conventional and good practices intended for aflatoxin management in the dried fig supply chain. While a direct accountancy method was engaged in the analysis, the cost units were calculated from the data that the Fig Research Institute (FRI), Aydin Provincial Agricultural Directorate (APAD), and Aegean Exporters Association (AEA) had for the farmers, middlemen, and processors/enterprises in the food supply chain, considering the average over the previous 5-year period (2005−2009). It was calculated that the difference in the economic costs of implementing conventional and good practices intended for aflatoxin management in the dried fig supply chain was $1.14 for per kg of dried figs in total. The total differentiation consisted of $0.51 kg−1 at the producer stage, $0.22 kg−1 at the middleman step, and $0.41 kg−1 at the processor phase.

Diurnal and seasonal variations in net photosynthetic (PN) and transpiration (E) rates and water use efficiency (WUE) of the fig tree (Ficus carica L.) were investigated under semi-arid climatic co...

The results of surveillance for ochratoxin A (OTA) in 1885 samples of sultanas taken during five crop years between 1999 and 2003 are reported. The analytical method was based on extraction with methanol + sodium bicarbonate and clean-up by immunoaffinity column chromatography followed by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. The limit of detection for OTA was 0.3 microg kg(-1). The results show that 9.3% of the samples contained no detectable levels of OTA, whereas 0.6% had concentrations exceeding 10 microg kg(-1); the remaining 90.3% had levels within the range 0.3-10 microg kg(-1). The overall mean OTA concentration in the total number of 1885 samples taken was 1.36 +/- 2.91 microg kg(-1); the overall median was calculated as 0.90 microg kg(-1).