Detection of aflatoxin and surface mould contaminated figs by using Fourier transform near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy

BACKGROUNDAflatoxins are toxic metabolites that are mainly produced by members of the Aspergillus section Flavi on many agricultural products. Certain agricultural products such as figs are known to be high risk products for aflatoxin contamination. Aflatoxin contaminated figs may show a bright greenish yellow fluorescence (BGYF) under ultraviolet (UV) light at a wavelength of 365nm. Traditionally, BGYF positive figs are manually selected by workers. However, manual selection depends on the expertise level of the workers and it may cause them skin-related health problems due to UV radiation.