Natural occurrence of mycotoxins in different spices in Egypt.

A total of 120 different samples belonging to 24 kinds of species collected from different places at Assiut Governorate (Egypt) were examined for the natural occurrence of mycotoxins. TLC analysis of spice extracts revealed the presence of aflatoxins (8-35 micrograms/kg) in 16 samples of anise, black pepper, caraway, black cumin, fennel, peppermint, coriander and marjoram, sterigmatocystin (10-23 micrograms/kg) in ten samples of red pepper, caraway, cumin and marjoram and citrinin (8-12 micrograms/kg) in two samples of black cumin, while ochratoxin A and zearalenone could not be detected.