Cereal Chem 54:620 - 626.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Aflatoxin Occurrence in 1973 Corn at Harvest. III. Aflatoxin Distribution in Contaminated, Insect-Damaged Corn.

O. L. Shotwell, M. L. Goulden, E. B. Lillehoj, W. F. Kwolek, and C. W. Hesseltine. Copyright 1977 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

The distribution of aflatoxin was studied in samples of insect-damaged, aflatoxin-contaminated corn freshly harvested in 1973 in northeastern South Carolina. Corn in samples from six lots was separated into fractions based on the bright greenish-yellow fluorescence (associated with aflatoxin) and rice weevil and other damage. Fractions containing outwardly sound kernels from the six samples had 67-87% of the total weights. Four had no detectable aflatoxin; two had 9 and 13% of the total aflatoxin B1 in their respective total samples. Kernels and pieces with obvious fluorescence and fluorescence under the seed coat represented only 0.1-0.4% of the total weights of each of the six samples, but comprised 35-90% of the B1. At least 75% of the fluorescing kernels and pieces had obvious insect damage. In the five samples containing 24-47 ppb aflatoxin B1, fractions with insect damage without BGY fluorescence and broken corn-foreign material accounted for 2-8% of the weight and 61-91% of the toxin. Fractions from these samples without insect damage made up 92-98% of the weight and 9-39% of the B1. The sample with 209 ppb aflatoxin B1 had the following distribution of weight and B1: Fractions without visible insect damage- 72%weight, 16% B1; and fractions with insect damage-28% weight, 84% B1. A few highly contaminated kernel s accounted for appreciable amounts or most of the aflatoxin in the lots of corn studied.