Table 4.
Prevalence of AFB1 and AFT in dates, pistachios, and walnuts and percentage of the samples exceeding the maximum tolerable limits (MTL) set by the European Union [36] and the more permissible level widely adopted in most developing countries around the world.
| District | Product | Number of Samples | Positive Samples * (%P) | AFB1 > 2 ng/g | AFT > 4 ng/g | AFB1 > 8 ng/g | AFT > 20 ng/g | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | ||||
| Bahawalpur | Dates | 5 | 4 (80) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pistachios | 5 | 4 (80) | 4 | 80 | 03 | 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Walnuts | 5 | 5 (100) | 4 | 80 | 04 | 80 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dera Ghazi Khan | Dates | 5 | 5 (100) | 4 | 80 | 04 | 80 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pistachios | 5 | 5 (100) | 5 | 100 | 05 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Walnuts | 5 | 5 (100) | 5 | 100 | 04 | 80 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Multan | Dates | 5 | 3 (60) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pistachios | 5 | 4 (80) | 4 | 80 | 03 | 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Walnuts | 5 | 4 (80) | 3 | 60 | 04 | 80 | 3 | 60 | 2 | 40 | |
| Rahim Yar Khan | Dates | 5 | 3 (60) | 1 | 20 | 01 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pistachios | 5 | 5 (100) | 3 | 60 | 03 | 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Walnuts | 5 | 5 (100) | 3 | 60 | 04 | 80 | 3 | 60 | 1 | 20 | |
| Overall | 60 | 52 (86.7) | 36 | 60 | 35 | 58.3 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 5 | |
* For AFB1 and AFT; N: number of samples exceeding the maximum tolerable limits (MTLs) of 2, 4, 8, or 20 ng/g of aflatoxins; %: percentage of samples exceeding the MTLs. Other abbreviations are as defined in Table 1.