Brahim Adoum A.^{1, 2}, Ali Haroun^{1, 2}, Denis Erbi^{3, 2}, Saturnin Naim⁴, Al-Lamadine Mahamat¹, Abdoullahi Hissein O.¹, Abdelsalam Tidjani¹, Aly Savadogo^2,

Charmout is a traditional product made from sun-dried meat, widely consumed in Chad. Its artisanal nature and exposure to the open air make it susceptible to contamination by various molds. The aim of this work was to evaluate the mycotoxins produced by molds in charmout. One hundred sixty-two samples were collected from the six (6) markets (central market, millet market, Al-afia market, Farcha market, Dembe market, and Al-adala market) in the city of N'Djamena and analyzed. The results showed that out of sixty-four contaminated samples, 41 were fungal flora, of which 39.50%; 26 were Aspergillus niger, 7 were of the Mucor genus, and 8 were of the Fusarium genus. The average concentration of aflatoxins ranged from 0.002 µg/kg to 0.04 µg/kg; from 0.004 µg/kg to 0.97 µg/kg; from 0.011 µg/kg to 0.35 µg/kg; and from 0.065 µg/kg to 0.075 µg/kg respectively for aflatoxins G2, G1, B2, and B1. For moisture content, the average values were 5.40±0.05; 9.78±0.53; 14.21±0.69; 13.28±0.84; 12.98±0.83; and 12.85±1.37, respectively in the samples from the central market, Millet market, Al-afia market, Dembe market, Farcha market, and Al-adala market. The samples from the Al-afia market and the Dembe market had moisture content levels higher than the value set by the Burkinabe Agency for Standardization, which is 13%.

charmout, aflatoxin, molds, N'Djamena, Chad