Aflatoxin is one of the most important fungal contaminants of pistachios that is considered a health hazard. In order to determine the effect of qualitative separation of processed pistachios based on appearance on the level of aflatoxin contamination of the consignment offered to the market, sampling was conducted in three replicates of processed pistachios from each of the Fandoghi, Ahmad Aghaei and Kalle Ghochi cultivars. After separation, each sample was divided into 7 groups based on the appearance of the fruit: yellow-brown, gray-black, damaged, closed-mouthed, large, medium, and small. After counting and weighing each group, their aflatoxin content was measured using the TLC-Scanner method. The results were analyzed in a factorial design with two factors: pistachio appearance (size and color) and pistachio variety. Statistical analysis and means were compared using Duncan's method. The results showed that the amount of aflatoxin in pistachios without spots was very low and close to zero. The average aflatoxin measured in yellow-brown spotted pistachios in the above three cultivars was 136.25, 632.38 and 120.35 ng/g, respectively, and in gray-black pistachios it was 8.68, 292.28 and 7.28 ng/g, respectively. By separating spotted pistachios, aflatoxin contamination was reduced by 89.52, 96.43 and 95.10% in the Fandoghi, Ahmad Aghaei and Kaleh Ghochi cultivars, respectively. Statistically, there is a significant difference between the amount of aflatoxin in spotted pistachios of different cultivars, and the highest amount of aflatoxin was in pistachios with yellow-brown spots of the Ahmad Aghaei cultivar. However, in all three cultivars, by separating spotted pistachios, aflatoxin is significantly reduced in the.
Processed pistachios before being released to the market