Spices have been known to be highly contaminated commodities with mycotoxins. The Codex Alimentarius reports that nutmeg is particularly contaminated with aflatoxins (AFs) and ochratoxin A (OTA). To eliminate contaminated commodities, visual sorting and bright greenish-yellow fluorescence (BGYF) sorting are used as low-cost technologies in production engineering. In Indonesia, nutmeg is mainly sorted by visual sorting and classified into three grades according to the Indonesian national standards, with importers further defining their own brand as imported products. In this study, we evaluate the efficacy of BGYF sorting as a further selection method to reduce AFs and OTA using the importer's own brand. Further, the level of these mycotoxins and the relationship between fungal flora and mycotoxin contamination were examined. These results showed that BGYF sorting effectively reduces AFs as well as OTA. In addition, BGYF-positive groups were infected by Aspergillus sections Flavi, Nigri, and Circumdati.
Keywords: aflatoxin; bright greenish-yellow fluorescence sorting; nutmeg; ochratoxin; reduction of mycotoxins.