Uganda To Install First Aflatoxin Removal Machine In Soroti To Enhance Quality Of Agricultural Produce
By Uganda Online Media
Kampala: Pela Commodities Limited a Ugandan company that buys, processes, packages, and markets agricultural grain products in Soroti is set to install Uganda’s first Aflatoxin removal machine (Toxi-Scrub).
The first and one of its kind, the machine which arrived in the country recently is designed by Eye-Grain and supplied along with the grain handling equipment by Perry Engineering who is an authorized reseller of the Toxi Scrub system.
It is assembled by Eye-Grain ApS, their local partner Grain and Toxin Solutions LLC (Uganda), and Perry Engineering who have also supplied the conveying and elevating system for the Toxi Scrub.
The machine will remove aflatoxins from high levels to 10ppb or less. It has different treatment programs and can be adjusted to make the necessary treatment to bring the contamination well below allowed levels.
The machine can also eliminate not only Mycotoxins but other biologic activities as well like bacteria, mites and insects.
The Toxi Scrub processing line can be tailored to any product in the agro, feed, cereal supply chain including all types of grain, nuts, beans and cakes from the oilseed industry.
Uganda’s grain handlers have had a long-standing aflatoxin problem, but this is a step in the right direction to help enhance our yields and output. It will turn harmful maize or grain that cannot be exported or sold to reputable processors into a high-value product. We have already trained our team
members on aflatoxin testing and they’re ready to start operating the machine,” said the Pela Commodities General Manager, Isaiah Langa.
Aflatoxin is a type of mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus species of fungi.
The umbrella term aflatoxin refers to four different types of mycotoxins produced, which are B1, B2, G1, and G2 but aflatoxin B1, the most toxic, is a potent carcinogen and has been directly correlated to adverse health effects, such as liver cancer in many animal species.
Aflatoxins are largely associated with commodities produced in the tropics and subtropics, such as cotton, peanuts, spices, pistachios, and maize.
Uganda has lost over $38million (shs140billion) as a result of its inability to sell maize owing to aflatoxins.
The Ugandan government is facing a significant budgetary load whereas post-harvest grain handling activities are of poor quality, and many grain handlers are unaware of aflatoxins.
Maize is Uganda’s most important cereal crop, which is grown on both small and large scales and traded locally and globally by farmers.
Because it provides opportunities for Ugandans across the value chain, the grain sub-sector is recognized as one of the most essential sectors for Uganda’s socio-economic transformation.
