CO-OCCURRENCE OF AFLATOXIN B1, FUMONISIN B1, OCHRATOXIN A AND ZEARALENONE IN CEREALS AND PEANUTS IN COTE D'IVOIRE

International audience; The present survey examined 30 samples of rice (n=10), maize (n=10) and peanuts (n=10) from Côte d'Ivoire for aflatoxin B1, fumonisin B1 and zearalenone using immuno-assays, and ochratoxinA using a validated HPLC-florimetric method. Similarly to some other countries it appeared that in Côte d'Ivoire several mycotoxins are present in the same commodities. These mycotoxins are from different structural families: aflatoxin B1, fumonisin B1, zearalenone, and ochratoxin A. There are normally produced by fungal species from Aspergillus, Penicilium and Fusarium genera. Some samples contain four mycotoxins (86%). Four peanuts samples do not show ochratoxin A (14%) whereas they contain threatening aflatoxin B1 concentrations, above the EU regulatory limits and exceeding tolerable daily intake. The concentrations of ochratoxin A, zearalenone and fumonisin B1 are low and may not cause problem per se however fears remain for possible excess of tolerable daily intake due to eating habits and synergism with the combination of several mycotoxins. Investigations in this direction are underway together with isolation and characterization of fungal species involved.