Local solutions for global challenges: A case of clay and afatoxin in Uganda

To inclusively and sustainably reduce food contamination by mycotoxin, the potential of local clays to impound aflatoxins in contaminated maize bran was evaluated. Twenty five (25) samples of maize bran contaminated with 44.82±1.59µgkg-1 total aflatoxin (TAFL); 14.63±1.45µgkg-1 B1 (AFLB1), 3.49±0.22 µgkg-1 B2 (AFLB2), 18.35±0.16 µgkg-1 G1 (AFLG1) and 8.34±0.29 µgkg-1 G2 (AFLG2) were incorporated with 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 kg/ton-1 of potter’s clay (CP), bentonitic clay (BC) and a commercial binders (CB) in five replicates. The concentration of aflatoxin (µgkg-1) in each was determined using an Agilent Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometer (LC-MS/MS). The data were analyzed by two way analysis of variance (ANOVA) using R software. Results showed that the concentration of aflatoxin (TAFL, AFLB1, AFLB2 and AFLG1) differed (p<0.05) among all samples/ binders types (p< 0.05) except for AFLG2 (p>0.05). Significant interactions were recorded between all binder types and binder inclusion levels except for AFLB1. Average TAFL (23.35±0.61 µg/kg), AFLB2 (1.51±0.05µg/kg) and AFLG1 (10.97±0.17 µgkg-1) were lowest in bran samples incorporated with 2 µgkg-1 bentonitic clays while AFLB1 (5.87± 0.12µgkg-1) and AFLG2 (2.8±0.07µgkg-1) were lowest in samples with 2 and 0.5kg/ton-1 of potters clay, respectively. Results suggested that local clays have a potential to reduce aflatoxin in contaminated maize-based feed resources thus improving food and nutrition security. Keywords: Aflatoxin, clays, maize -based feed resources, Uganda