Occurrence, transfer rule, and dietary risk assessment of aflatoxins in medicinal and edible seeds

The last three decades have seen a rise in the use of herbal remedies and supplements, with more than 80% of the world's population relying on them for primary care. However, aflatoxin contamination in herbal remedies may constitute a risk to human health. In this study, a simple and robust method for the simultaneous detection of aflatoxins in four types of medicinal and edible seeds was developed by using UFLC-MS/MS combined with QuECHERS pretreatment. Meanwhile, the transfer rule of the aflatoxins in medicinal and edible seeds during the decoction process was explored, followed by dietary risk assessment based on Monte Carlo simulation. Results showed that aflatoxin contamination was found in 80.6% of the samples (62/77), with the contamination levels of 0.04–258.72 μg/kg. Notably, high levels of aflatoxins were found in Ziziphi Spinosae Semen and Platycladi Semen, while low aflatoxin transfer rates (1.13%–11.86%) were observed during the decoction process. The estimated daily intake (EDI) of AFB 1 could reach 15.314 and 0.333 ng/kg bw/day by ingesting aflatoxin-susceptible Ziziphi Spinosae Semen and Platycladi Semen, respectively. The population cancer risks ranged from 3.34 × 10 −8 to 2.86 × 10 −4 hepatocellular carcinoma cases per 10 5 persons per year. The probabilistic risk assessment indicated a short-term and long-term health concern of intaking these two medicinal and edible seeds contaminated by aflatoxins. This study revealed the occurrence and transfer pattern of aflatoxins in the medicinal and edible seeds and evaluated the risks of their dietary exposure, providing a basis for their safe use.