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Aflatoxins are ubiquitous and occur in food. Exposure to aflatoxins seriously impact the health of human and animal. It is concerning especially when aflatoxins are odourless, colourless, and tasteless that hardly be detected through naked eyes. Ingestion of aflatoxin-contaminated food contributes the major route of exposure. The present review is an update on the aflatoxin occurrence in food, aflatoxin regulations in food, and recent risk assessment of aflatoxin exposure in Malaysia. Peanuts and chili were more prone to aflatoxin contamination in Malaysia. The extreme weather experienced in Malaysia and global climatic change may worsen the aflatoxin contamination in food. The regulatory standards for aflatoxins imposed by Malaysia are less stringent than developed countries. The dietary exposure of aflatoxins among Malaysian was relatively high as compared with other Asia countries, ranging from 0.002 to 34.00 ng/kg body weight/day. Nonetheless, Malaysian population had low risk of aflatoxin-related liver cancer, with an estimated liver cancer risk of

Endocrine disrupters (EDCs) are naturally occurring or man-made substances that either mimic or obstruct the functions of oestrogens and androgens, thyroid hormones, as well as microminerals in the body. The present work aimed to evaluate the effects of oral administration of tartrazine and curcumin, synthetic and natural dyes, respectively, on thyroid hormones (T3, T4, and TSH), female reproductive hormones (oestrogen, progesterone, LH, and FSH), and minerals (iron, copper, zinc, sodium, potassium, and chloride) in plasma, liver, and kidney of female rats after 15, 30, and 45 d of treatment. The rats were treated with admissible daily intake (ADI) and 10× ADI (9.6 and 96 mg/kg/body weight for tartrazine, 3.85 and 38.5 mg/kg/body weight for curcumin, respectively). Results showed significant changes in thyroid and female reproductive hormones, especially, in the tartrazine-treated groups as compared to the control. Low and high doses of tartrazine and curcumin significantly (p < 0.05) decreased iron, copper, and zinc concentrations in plasma, whereas, the concentrations of sodium and copper in liver and kidney increased. Both tartrazine and curcumin, at ADI and 10× ADI, resulted in lower LH levels after 30 and 45 d of treatment. After 30 d, low and high dose of tartrazine significantly decreased T4, oestrogen, and FSH levels; whereas, progesterone level increased. The results demonstrated that hormone secretion and mineral content in tissues are severely affected at ADI and higher concentrations of tartrazine and curcumin. These observations suggested that lower doses of these dyes might be a safer option for their usage in foods and pharmaceuticals.

Summary Objectives The effect of ginger supplements on inflammatory biomarkers and oxidative stress in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) has been investigated, but findings are inconsistent. This systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to determine the effects of ginger supplementation on inflammatory parameters (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [hs-CRP], tumour necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-α], and interleukin-6 [IL-6]) in patients with T2DM. Methods We performed a systematic search using PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Web of Science for randomised controlled trials (RCTs), published until March 17, 2021. The quality assessment was carried out using the Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool. The Q-test and I 2 tests were used for the determination of heterogeneity of the included studies. Data were pooled using a random-effects model, and weighted mean difference (WMD) was used for the overall effect size. Results Pooled findings of the five RCTs demonstrated that ginger supplementations had significantly reduced hs-CRP (WMD −0.42 mg/L; 95% CI, −0.78, −0.05, P = 0.03), TNF-α (−2.13 pg/mL; 95% CI: −3.41, −0.86, P = 0.001), and IL-6 (WMD: −0.61 pg/mL; 95% CI: −0.92, −0.30, P = 0.001) levels in patients with T2DM. The quality assessment of the studies showed that all of the included studies were at high risk of bias. Conclusions The meta-analysis shows that ginger supplementations reduced inflammatory parameters in patients with T2DM. Nonetheless, the reduction is relatively small, and its meaningful clinical effects are unknown. Future high-quality RCTs are needed to confirm the beneficial effects of ginger supplementation in patients with T2DM.

There are various undesirable products generated from endogenous aerobic metabolism such as reactive oxygen species (ROS). Physiological and biochemical lesions are caused by ROS and which give rise to oxidative damages towards DNA, proteins and lipids which ultimately lead to cell death. This study was aimed to examine the effect of oral administration of food colorants (tartrazine and curcumin) on the oxidants and antioxidants level in blood and fecal of rats after 15, 30, and 45 days. Two doses were used based on the admissible daily intake (ADI) of 9.6 and 96 (high) mg/kg/body weight for tartrazine, 3.85 and 38.5 6 mg/kg/body weight for curcumin. The results showed that oral administration of tartrazine had significantly increased the total oxidant level, arylesterase, glutathione reductase, and MDA whereas there was significantly decreased the total antioxidants level, catalase, glutathione peroxidase in plasma and fecal after 30 and 45 days. Vitamin E and C were decreased in plasma. Fecal showed high level of vitamin A. High dose of tartrazine caused alteration in the aldehyde reactive probe (ARP) sites of DNA showing the DNA damage. After 45 day, significant increment was observed in the level of AST in low and high curcumin treated group. Whereas, elevations of arylestrase were seen in high curcumin group after 45 day. High dose of curcumin significantly (P≤ 0.05) decreased the concentration of vitamin C after 45 days of treatment and increased the level of vitamin E in plasma of treated groups after 30 and 45 days of treatment. The present study showed that the ADI and doses up to 10 times higher than ADI showed negative effects on antioxidant level and demonstrated the importance of using appropriate doses of food colorants such as tartrazine and curcumin in different processed food products.

Incorporation of the coloring agent, tartrazine and curcumin affects healthy physiological system leading to changes in hematology, biochemistry and enzymatic activity. Consequences of oral administration of tartrazine and curcumin were explored for 15, 30 and 45 days in female adult rat. Two doses were based on the admissible daily intake (ADI) of 9.6 and 96 (high) mg/kg/body weight for tartrazine, 3.85 and 38.5 mg/kg/body weight for curcumin. Phytochemicals such as saponins, glycosides, alkaloids, flavonoids, tannin, carbohydrates and phenolics were present in coloring agents. The renal function tests and lipid profile showed alterations in the values of uric acid, urea, total protein, albumin and cholesterol in all treatment groups. Additionally, the levels of liver enzymes fluctuated after 45 days of treatment with curcumin and tartrazine. Histopathological changes were also recorded in liver and kidney. In contrast, blood biochemistry depicted the significant reduction of RBCs, Hb, MCH, glucose, WBCs, MCHC and LDH at 15, 30 and 45 days. Besides, IgG, IgM and overall antibody GMT at 45 days were significantly increased. Study indicated that ADI and doses up to 10 times of the ADI of food colors intake exerted adverse effects on immune response and altered the biochemical parameters.

The modulation of gut microbiota and proteome due to aflatoxin B

With the constant growth of the human population, the global demand for food is increasing annually. Food security is an arising issue due to decreased resources and massive waste production from the agricultural sector. For example, not all parts of fruits and vegetables are consumed by consumers, and this phenomenon can lead to huge amounts of food wastes that are produced globally. Moreover, non-utilized agriculture by-products, including seed coat, hull, husk, peels, seeds, and pomace, can cause environmental issues. Hence, efficiently utilizing food wastes, such as vegetable and fruit by-products, could be a way to increase food sustainability, and in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. Moreover, certain agriculture by-products are reported to have a high nutritional value and could be potentially used as functional ingredient and food in the food industry. This review article summarizes findings on the development of new functional foods by utilizing different types of agriculture by-products, that is, vegetable and fruit by-products as ingredients. Furthermore, the nutritional values, processing methods, product acceptability, and potential uses of these vegetable and fruit by-products are also discussed. These by-products can be an alternative source of nutrients to support the global demand for functional foods and as one of the strategies to cope with food insecurity. Studies have shown that different types of fruit and vegetable by-products were well-incorporated in the development of functional foods, such as bakery products and dairy products. Of great importance, this review article provides an insight of the nutritional value, health benefits, and utilization of fruit and vegetable by-products.

Background: Aflatoxin occurrence could be affected by several factors. This study aimed to assess the association between knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) towards aflatoxin and sociodemographic factors with urinary AFM1 occurrence among residents in Hulu Langat, Selangor. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among healthy Malaysian adults aged 18 to 60 years in six subdistricts of Hulu Langat, Selangor. Sociodemographic factors and KAP towards aflatoxin were assessed via questionnaires while morning urine sample was collected for AFM 1 analysis. Of 444 respondents, the urinary AFM 1 level was detected in 199 samples (detection rate = 44.8 %). From 37 positive samples with AFM 1 level above the detection limit of 0.64 ng/ml, the mean value was 1.23 ± 0.91 ng/ml with a range of 0.65 – 5.34 ng/ml (median = 0.89 ng/ml). The variables were examined based on the occurrence of urinary AFM 1 biomarker. Results: Findings showed that there were significant differences in urinary AFM1 occurrence across ethnicity ( p

Background : Obesity and overweight are major public health problems. Various factors, such as daily nutritional habits, physical inactivity, and genetic, are related to the prevalence of obesity. Recently, it was revealed that the gut microflora may also play an important role in weight management. Thus, this study aimed to determine the anti-obesity effects of Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS) compared with those of orlistat in an animal model fed a high-fat diet (HFD). Design : Thirty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to four groups fed various diets as follows: a standard diet group, HFD group, HFD supplemented with LcS (10 8 10 9 colony-forming units (HFD-LcS) group, and HFD group treated with Orlistat (10 mg/kg body weight)). After 15 weeks, the weights of organs, body weight, body fat mass and serological biomarkers were measured. In addition, histological analysis of the liver and adipose tissue was performed. Results : Body weight, body mass index, fat mass, leptin and glucose levels were lower, and high-density lipoprotein and adiponectin levels were higher in the HFD-LcS and HFD-orlistat groups than in the HFD group. In addition a significant difference in body fat mass was observed between HFD-LcS group with HFD-orlistat group (19.19±5.76 g vs. 30.19±7.98 g). Although the interleukin-6 level was significantly decreased in the HFD-LcS and HFD-orlistat groups compared with the HFD group, no significant change was observed in other inflammatory biomarkers. Conclusion : The results of the present study show that LcS supplementation improves body weight management and the levels of some related biomarkers. In addition, LcS supplementation showed a better result in fat mass and alanine aminotransferase reduction than Orlistat. Further studies are needed to elucidate the anti-obesity effects of LcS, with a longer period of supplementation. Keywords: obesity; high-fat diet; Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota; orlistat. (Published: 22 December 2015) Citation: Food & Nutrition Research 2015, 59: 29273 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/fnr.v59.29273

Aflatoxin is a food contaminant and its exposure through the diet is frequent and ubiquitous. A long-term dietary aflatoxin exposure has been linked to the development of liver cancer in populations with high prevalence of aflatoxin contamination in foods. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify the association between urinary aflatoxin M1 (AFM1), a biomarker of aflatoxin exposure, with the dietary intake among adults in Hulu Langat district, Selangor, Malaysia. Certain food products have higher potential for aflatoxin contamination and these were listed in a Food Frequency Questionnaire, which was given to all study participants. This allowed us to record consumption rates for each food product listed. Concomitantly, urine samples were collected, from adults in selected areas in Hulu Langat district, for the measurement of AFM1 levels using an ELISA kit. Of the 444 urine samples collected and tested, 199 were positive for AFM1, with 37 of them exceeding the limit of detection (LOD) of 0.64 ng/mL. Cereal products showed the highest consumption level among all food groups, with an average intake of 512.54 g per day. Chi-square analysis showed that consumption of eggs (X2 = 4.77, p = 0.03) and dairy products (X2 = 19.36, p < 0.01) had significant associations with urinary AFM1 but both food groups were having a phi and Cramer’s V value that less than 0.3, which indicated that the association between these food groups’ consumption and AFM1 level in urine was weak.

Aflatoxin is one of the mycotoxins and produced by Aspergillus species of fungi. This toxic compound is ubiquitously found in food commodities such as nuts, cereals, spices and milks and dairy products. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) has been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as Group 1 carcinogen. Once AFB1 is ingested by humans, it is metabolized by liver enzymes into many metabolites. One of the metabolites is aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) which can be found in urine samples. This preliminary study aimed to screen the level of AFM1 in urine samples among non-academic staffs of a faculty in Universiti Putra Malaysia. AFM1 was detected in all urine samples (n = 22) ranging from 0.0289 to 0.1547 ng/ml with a mean of 0.0421 ng/ml. From the health point of view, the finding should be a public concern as aflatoxin is a potent-carcinogen for liver cancer and long term exposure to aflatoxin can pose detrimental health effect. Thus, further investigations in a larger sample size should be warranted in order to find the potential consequences of this exposure in Malaysia.

This mini review article described the exposure of aflatoxin in Malaysia, including its presence in the foodstuffs and the detection of aflatoxin biomarkers in human biological samples. Historically, the exposure of aflatoxin in Malaysia can be dated in 1960s where an outbreak of disease in pig farms caused severe liver damage to the animals. Later, an aflatoxicosis case in Perak in 1988 was reported and caused death to 13 children, as up to 3 mg of aflatoxin was present in a single serving of contaminated noodles. Since then, extensive research on aflatoxin has been conducted in Malaysia. The food commodities such as peanuts, cereals, spices, and their products are the main commodities commonly found to be contaminated with aflatoxin. Surprisingly, some of the contaminated foods had levels greater than the permissible limit adopted by the Malaysian Food Regulation 1985. Besides, exposure assessment through the measurement of aflatoxin biomarkers in human biological samples is still in its infancy stage. Nevertheless, some studies had reported the presence of these biomarkers. In fact, it is postulated that Malaysians are moderately exposed to aflatoxin compared to those high risk populations, where aflatoxin contamination in the diets is prevalent. Since the ingestion of aflatoxin could be the integral to the development of liver cancer, the incidence of cancer attributable by dietary aflatoxin exposure in Malaysia has also been reported and published in the literatures. Regardless of these findings, the more important task is to monitor and control humans from being exposed to aflatoxin. The enforcement of law is insufficient to minimize human exposure to aflatoxin. Preventive strategies include agricultural, dietary, and clinical measures should be implemented. With the current research on aflatoxin in Malaysia, a global networking for research collaboration is needed to expand the knowledge and disseminate the information to the global scientific community.