Aflatoxin Contamination

Aflatoxin is a natural carcinogen that occurs in peanuts under drought stress. UGA biological and agricultural engineers developed a technique to identify areas in a peanut field at high-risk for aflatoxin contamination so that peanuts in these areas can be separated from the remainder of the crop. They initiated a project to evaluate remote sensing as a technique for easily identifying drought-stressed areas in a peanut field. To do this they used tractor-mounted and airborne multispectral cameras in a 30-acre rain-fed peanut field to create multispectral images of the crop at critical times during the growing season. Multispectral images capture the crop's reflectance at specific wavelengths. Measured reflectance was analyzed mathematically to identify areas of drought stress. Because the 2006 growing season was very dry, aflatoxin concentrations in peanut kernels were high in drought-stressed areas of the field. These techniques show great promise as a tool for producers to identify and segregate areas of the field at high risk for aflatoxin contamination. Segregation of high-risk areas can save the producer money as well as improve the safety of thefood supply.