Recently, ICT has contributed
significantly to the development of World Agriculture. A Smartphone Application now offers farmers
in developing country an opportunity to detect and manage Aflatoxins responsible
for causing Liver Cancers. Aflatoxins are naturally occurring contaminants
produced by Fungus, especially Aspergillus
flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. These
moulds grow on crops, especially groundnuts, tree nuts, maize, wheat, and
cottonseed that are stored under conditions of warmth and humidity.
The
Lab-on-Mobile-Device (LMD) or Smart phone Application can detect Aflatoxins as accurately as a
laboratory test, but can be carried out anywhere at a fraction of the cost
using a Smartphone camera, according to Donald Cooper of the University of
Colorado, United States, who co-founded a company called Mobile Assay to
develop the technology. However, Laboratory tests that can detect Aflatoxins
are very expensive coupled with the challenge of transporting samples from
remotes areas.
According
to Scidev.net, local regulatory agencies widely use cheaper immunoassay tests,
which operate in a similar way to over-the-counter pregnancy tests, for
on-location screening. But these can only indicate a positive or negative
result via a colour change on test strips or in liquid substrates and so are
unable to indicate the level of health threat. “The immunoassay tests are
semi-qualitative techniques and they are not very appropriate for making
decisions about whether a batch of food is fit for consumption.
After
users photograph the test strip with the Smartphone, the app then calculates
the pixel density of the coloured band. The result shows how much Aflatoxin is
present, within a certain threshold, rather than merely giving a simple
positive or negative result. LMD is more sensitive than the human eye, boosting
the accuracy of traditional immunoassay tests by a factor of 100. Data from the
tests will also be automatically uploaded online to create real-time,
open-access maps of Aflatoxin outbreaks for research.
Moreover,
Mobile Assay is also developing a prototype low-energy, lightweight ozone
decontamination unit to treat infected crops. Cooper says the technology, often
used in organic farming in the United States, can neutralise up to 90 per cent
of the Aflatoxin in a plant