Aflatoxin was quantified by enzyme linked immunosorbent
Assay (ELISA) as described previously (Pestka
et al., 1980). Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and rabbit anti-AFB1
were purchased from Sigma (St. Louis,MO). Horse Radish
Peroxidase (HRP)–AFB1 conjugate was prepared in our
laboratory (Skory et al., 1993). This ELISA detects
primarily AFB1 although there is measurable crossreactivity
with other aflatoxins. A standard curve was
generated using aflatoxin concentrations ranging from
0.001 to 10 ng/ml. Aflatoxin concentrations reported for
each treatment group represent the mean of peanuts from
three independent Petri plates. Prior to analysis, samples
were diluted appropriately to generate samples that fell
within the linear range of the standard curve. Error bars
represent standard error of the means of these triplicate
samples. All experiments were conducted a minimum of
two times.