Abstract

Food samples containing aflatoxins and heavy metals have been responsible for the contamination of the food chain. This research aims to determine the concentration of aflatoxins and some heavy metals (Ni, Zn, P b, Cd) contamination in soybean and groundnut food samples (widely consumed in the study area) from four (4) markets in Makurdi metropolis to monitor food contamination. Aflatoxins and heavy metals concentrations were analysed on the aforementioned samples using the Enzyme - Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) techniques respectively. Total aflatoxins were not detected in soybean samples while concentrations in groundnut samples ranged between 0.35±0.07-3.30±0.14 ppb. The heavy metal concentrations in Zn, Cd, and Ni in soybean were 3.29±0.04-5.01±0.05 mg/Kg, 0.03±0.00-0.06±0.04 mg/kg and 0.04±0.00-0.28±0.00 mg/kg respectively. Those of groundnut were 2.46±0.02-2.82±0.00 mg/kg, 0.03±0.01-0.04±0.01 mg/kg and 0.02±0.01-0.13±0.01 mg/kg respectively. Pb was not detected in all the samples. Taken together, this study has thus shown that aflatoxins were within the European Union and National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) acceptable limit and heavy metal content in all samples were within the Codex Alimentarius Commission acceptable limits. This implies that the consumption of soybean and groundnut from the markets are safe as far as these two (2) contaminants are concerned.