Cereal Chem 57:340 - 343.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Aflatoxin Distribution in Individual Corn Kernels from Intact Ears.

L. S. Lee, E. B. Lillehoj, and W. F. Kwolek. Copyright 1980 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Three ears of corn were selected from a lot that showed nominal insect damage and the characteristic greenish yellow spores of Aspergillus flavus. Kernels from four rows in damaged areas of each ear were observed for mold contamination and BGY fluorescence and then assayed for aflatoxin; 198 individual kernels were assayed. The detection limit of the assay was approximately 100 ng/g. Aflatoxin distribution among kernels was extremely heterogeneous, ranging from 100 to 80,000 ng/g. Kernels containing a high level of aflatoxin were often adjacent to aflatoxin-negative kernels. Some BGY-fluorescent kernels did not contain aflatoxin, but 85% of the kernels with aflatoxin were also BGY-fluorescent. In addition to the kernel-to-kernel variation, ear-to-ear variation was found in toxin levels of corn grown and harvested under identical conditions.