MYCOTOXIN RESEARCH, vol.36, no.4, pp.381-387, 2020 (SCI-Expanded)
Fungal metabolites including regulated mycotoxins were identified by a validated LC-MS/MS method in 180 individual Turkish dried figs from 2017 and 2018 harvests. Hand-selected dried figs were subjectively classified based on the extent of fluorescence. Forty-three fungal metabolites including eight EU-regulated mycotoxins were identified and quantified. Figs classified as being uncontaminated mostly did not contain aflatoxins above 1 mu g/kg. Despite being "uncontaminated" from an aflatoxin perspective, kojic acid was present in significant quantities with a maximum level of 3750 mg/kg (0.375% w/w) and tenuazonic acid was also found (2 mu g/kg to 298 mg/kg) in some figs. Notable in the screening of figs has been the presence of significant amounts of aflatoxin M-1(AFM1) in figs also containing significant levels of aflatoxin B-1(AFB1), which is the first time that AFM1 has been reported as naturally occurring in dried figs.