Aflatoxin in Pu'er tea

Pu’er tea cannot produce aflatoxin, which is also the most straightforward and simple answer. Why is this so certain? Because Pu'er tea lacks the material conditions to convert Aspergillus aflatoxin into aflatoxin during the processing and post-fermentation process.

How to explain?

Aflatoxin is a secondary metabolite produced by Aspergillus aflatoxin and other parasitic Aspergillus under certain conditions. This is a scientific concept and a scientific conclusion. This concept tells us that not all Aspergillus aflatoxins can be converted into aflatoxins. The conversion of Aspergillus flavus into aflatoxin requires "certain conditions". So what is this condition? Two items: one is material conditions; the other is environmental conditions. Among these two conditions, material conditions are the most fundamental requirements.

The production of aflatoxin is the basis for the action of aflatoxin. It must be substances containing mainly proteins, starches, and oils, such as rice, corn, flour (including pastries, biscuits, bread, etc.), edible Oil, peanuts, nuts and dried fruits, etc. Although Pu'er tea also contains a very small amount of protein, starch and lipids, it is too little, which can be said to be pitiful. Even so, the pitifully little protein in Pu'er tea is hydrolyzed into amino acids during the processing, and only a trace amount of starch is converted into carbohydrates. The remaining lipids are also lost during anaerobic fermentation due to the action of the multi-enzyme system. It is converted into alcohol substances and becomes a kind of aromatic substances. Therefore, we say that it is impossible for aflatoxin to appear in Pu'er tea because it lacks the material conditions to transform aflatoxin, which is also the most basic condition. In fact, not only Pu'er tea, but almost all tea types are unlikely to produce aflatoxins during subsequent aging. From 1993 to 1995, the World Health Organization issued warnings on the possible aflatoxin contamination of various foods, but did not issue a similar warning on tea. Some people may say that Pu'er tea is a regional tea, and it is not. Not considered by the World Health Organization. What about black tea? It is a worldwide tea. Although there are some differences in the fermentation methods of black tea and Pu'er tea, it is undeniable that they are both fermented teas, and aflatoxin can be detected during the fermentation process, but the presence of aflatoxin cannot be detected. We often say that tea is a low-calorie drink. This is not because our processing technology is amazing, but because tea itself lacks protein, starch, and oils that generate calories.

If the aflatoxin detected in Pu'er tea belongs to the second pollution

Since it is said that Pu'er tea cannot produce aflatoxin, why "Pu'er tea in a tea market in Guangzhou" However, the report "Investigation on the Current Situation of Multiple Biotoxin Pollution" revealed that aflatoxin was detected in Pu'er tea? Is this report wrong? Or is it because of other reasons?

After carefully studying this report, I personally believe that it is true and credible. The standard samples, experimental equipment, testing processes, and conclusions used in the experiments are all very standardized and rigorous. This report not only points out the detection data of aflatoxins, but also involves the detection and data of fumonisins, DON, and T-2D toxins. Therefore, I believe that the authenticity and scientific nature of this report, including its academic value, cannot be questioned.

This report clearly states in the "Abstract" that the samples taken are all from "Pu'er tea stored in a wet warehouse of a tea market in Guangzhou". There is a keyword here "wet warehouse". Many people may not know about "wet warehouse", but everyone who has stored Pu'er tea knows that "wet warehouse" is a unique "radical method" created by some people who think it accelerates the fermentation of Pu'er tea. This practice is only limited to Guangdong, It is used by a small number of people in Hong Kong and is not the mainstream method of storing Pu'er tea. However, there is also a problem here. Even in "wet warehouses", aflatoxin will not appear in high temperature and high humidity. I have been using this method since 2004. Pu'er tea has been subjected to dozens of destructive experiments. Pu'er tea was placed in a microbial incubator, using high temperature and high humidity methods (more radical than wet warehouses) to observe the activity of microorganisms and enzymes in different time periods. Aspergillus aflatoxin was not found. The emergence of toxins. The samples selected include Dayi, Xiaguan, Haiwan, Chen Sheng, Longrun and other dozens of companies. Here is a joke. I didn't know much about Pu'er tea at first, and I mistakenly thought that there would be a lot of bacteria in this natural fermentation method, and the E. coli in Pu'er tea must have exceeded the standard. However, after dozens of tests, I found that most of them were not detected. Products from small factories have been detected, but they have not exceeded the standard. This arouses great interest in me.

Later, through constant observation, it was discovered that the fermentation process of Pu'er tea involves the participation of a multi-enzyme system. When the bacterial flora is established, other miscellaneous bacteria, including E. coli, are suppressed and it is difficult to reproduce. This is the principle of "antagonism" often referred to in the microbiology community.

If Pu'er tea cannot produce aflatoxin, and the high temperature and humidity of the "wet warehouse" cannot produce aflatoxin, then what is the problem? In fact, the problem still lies in this "wet warehouse". It is the secondary pollution of "wet warehouse". Anyone who has visited a "wet warehouse" will have an intuitive impression that it is dirty, messy and poor.

The "wet warehouse" often contains some debris that is not related to Pu'er tea, and thirdly, broken saltpetre from small food items is often scattered around. In addition, people do not have the habit of changing clothes and shoes when entering and exiting. Even if someone brings in a little bit of peanuts and biscuit crumbs from the soles of their shoes, it will cause the first pollution, and these small materials are stored in the "wet warehouse" with high temperature and humidity. In the environment, it can easily combine with Aspergillus aflatoxin to produce a secondary pollutant - aflatoxin. These pollutants will "drift" to the Pu'er tea nearby. Therefore, many experts say that most Pu'er tea does not have aflatoxin, and only a small part does. If Pu'er tea can produce aflatoxin, then it should not be in a small amount, but in a certain space and environment, and eventually there will be. Therefore, the presence of aflatoxin in a small amount of Pu'er tea is actually caused by secondary pollution. This is also a big reason why "wet warehouse" has not become the mainstream of Pu'er tea storage decades after its invention.

Therefore, the "Investigation on the Current Situation of Multiple Biotoxin Contamination in Pu'er Tea in a Tea Market in Guangzhou" focuses on making people wary of Pu'er tea stored in "wet warehouses" through the presence of aflatoxins in the samples. This is also a true digital disclosure of the problems of "wet warehouses". Rather than pointing to the entire Pu'er tea. Just as the grain testing department finds aflatoxin in individual samples from the national grain reserves every year, the results of its testing can only be used to improve storage area management and adjust operating procedures. Instead of telling people across the country not to eat food, "Eating food is the fastest way to get cancer." Therefore, professional reports cannot rely on personal assumptions or imagination. It cannot be raised or expanded arbitrarily. Otherwise, only non-professional misunderstandings will occur.