AFLATOSSINA M1 NEL LATTE E NEI PRODOTTI LATTIERO-CASEARI.

SUMMARY Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites, mainly produced by the species Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus; Scientists have identified 18 types of aflatoxins, of which only six are food contaminants. These food contaminants are classified into B1, B2, G1, G2, M1, M2. Under certain conditions of temperature and water activity, the specie A.parasiticus is responsible for the production of aflatoxins B and G (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, AFG2), while A. flavus of B. The Aflatoxins M1 and M2 are derived from the secondary animal metabolism, respectively by aflatoxin B1 and B2. The transformation process occurs mainly in the liver. They are consequently, excreted through various routes such as urinary, mammary and bile. The system of the mammary excretion is the main cause of the contamination of milk by toxins. The AFM1 the subject of this thesis, is the main metabolite transferred into the milk through a process called carry over. Although the route of excretion mammary is quantitatively unimportant, is a matter of concern to human health, because the milk and dairy products play a key role in the diet of all ages, and provide important nutrients essential for humans, especially in the early years of life. The AFM1 is studied for its ability to interact with DNA, then a potential carcinogen, for this was reported in group 2B by IARC (Van Egmond et al, 1989). Its presence in the milk is detected after 12-24 hours after the first ingestion of AFB1 and can last up to 3 days after the last ingestion, but its distribution is not uniform, because of the affinity with the casein, this can be translated in dairy products with a higher level of concentration of AFM1 than the one found on the original source of milk. The fate of the AFM1 in milk and its derivatives depends on the treatments to which the contaminated milk will be submitted before the placing on the market, it is seen that the common methods of pasteurization, sterilization, storage at temperatures near 0 ° C are not able to significantly reduce the concentration of the toxin. Further studies were conducted on methods for the restoration of contaminated milk, based on methods of chemical, physical and biological but that can not be applied to the dairy, because of the lack of experimental data about the impact on human health. Since AFM1 can not easily be destroyed or removed, you can prevent its presence in milk, by trying to eliminate the AFB1 from the diet of the lactiferous animals. In many countries in the world, and particularly in the European Union, there are specific regulations to control the amount of eligible AF in foodstuffs intended for animals producing milk. Europe also have established the maximum limits of AFM1 in certain foodstuffs intended for human consumption. There are various techniques for the detection of AFM1, but generally using rapid tests or immunochemical methods of the type qualitative or semi-quantitative like screening, and then as we proceed with their confirmation with a precise quantification tended with chromatographic methods on those samples previously resulted positive on the screening test.