Assessment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Aflatoxin B1 in Homemade Roasted Sunflower Seeds

Background and Objectives: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and aflatoxin B1 are addressed as one of the most common food contaminants.Roasted sunflower seeds as traditional snacks include high acceptance and consumption in Iran, which is likely to receive the contaminants from the environment and during the roasting process.The aim of this study was to identify and assess polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and aflatoxin B1 in the skin and core of home-produced roasted sunflower seeds.Materials and methods: Soxhlet method was used to extract polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.The solution extracted from the sample was injected into a gas chromatography-mass spectrometer and the content of these components were assessed using calibration curve.Aflatoxin B1 of the sample was assessed using high-performance liquid chromatography and immunoaffinity columns.Results: From the 16 types of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, acenaphthene was detected in the present sample and its quantity was assessed in the seed shells and kernels as 0.4 ppm 0.4 and 1.1 ppm 2.4,respectively.Moreover, 11% of the kernel samples and 46% of the shell samples were positive for the mycotoxin. Conclusion:Since carcinogenicity of acenaphthene has not been verified for humans and the level of aflatoxin B1 in all samples was lower than the permissible limits, it can be concluded that this product does not pose a serious risk to the consumers for these two contaminants.