Challenging the Expiry Dates of Two Mycotoxins Standards: Afla and Ochra A

Objectives: To challenge the expiry dates of low concentration high purity mycotoxins standards. Literature Review: Aflatoxins (AFs) and Ochratoxin A (OTA) are persistent mycotoxins with adverse effects on humans. Mycotoxins standards are purchased to determine mycotoxin concentrations in food and may be stocked in some laboratories beyond expiry dates causing laboratories financial losses. Methods: Certified mycotoxins standards were purchased over the years from the same supplier at times and at other times from two different suppliers for quality control purposes. For AFs, six chromatographic runs for each of the mycotoxins standards were done to compare the difference among these standards having the following expiry dates (2008, 2012, 2013 and 2018). AFs standards purchased/obtained from two different suppliers in 2016 and expiring in 2018 were also compared. For OTA, the difference of concentration obtained between two years (2010 and 2018) was tested. All samples were run on a HPLC equipped with a fluorescence detector. Linearity of calibration curves and the points of lowest detection were determined for AFs components and for OTA from the unexpired mycotoxins standards. Results: At a 0.05 significance level and using non parametric tests, the statistical test revealed a p of 0.166, 0.153, 0.358 and 0.03 for B1, G1, B2 and G2 respectively among years for standards from same supplier and 0.037, 0.109, 0.182 and 0.182 for B1, G1, B2 and G2 respectively for unexpired standards from two different suppliers. For OTA, a p of 0.109 was obtained for standards of different expiry dates purchased from different suppliers. Conclusion: High purity low concentration mycotoxin standards purchased a decade ago (i.e. expired) did not differ from those purchased this current year (still valid). Hence, the expiry date can be renewed reducing the laboratories expenses. Manufacturers are urged to reconsider the expiry dates.

Aamar-e-Advia(shelf-lives) of drugs in Unani system of medicine:A conceptual review

In an era of globalization and increased global demand for herbal medicines, it is essential to ensure the quality and consistency of drugs. Changes in the quality of an herbal product over time should be detectable. The assessments of chemical quality and therapeutic efficacy of herbal drugs are necessary to establish their shelf-lives. Thus, stability testing is needed to establish standards for herbal products. Unani medicine has its own conceptual framework for studying health and disease. The mode of treatment includes Ilaj bit Tadbeer(regimental therapy), Ilaj bil Ghiza(dietotherapy), Ilaj bil Dawa(pharmacotherapy) and Ilaj bil Yad/Jarahat(surgery) as a final option. Ilaj bil Dawa is the most used mode of treatment.The drugs include either crude drugs prepared from plant, animal and mineral sources, called Mufrad(single) drugs or various formulations prepared from these crude drugs, called Murakkab(compound)drugs. To date, stability studies have been carried out on compound drugs, whereas only a few single drugs had had their stability tested. These studies are needed to understand how the quality of an herbal drug varies over the time when it is prepared and consumed. This may also help to standardize procedures for manufacturing compound formulations ab initio. The present study reviews the concept of Aamar-e-Advia(shelf-lives) described in the literature of the Unani system of medicine. Further, various factors that are considered important to assess the shelf-life of Unani drugs are discussed in the context of contemporary protocols for shelf-life assessment.

An EOQ model with backordering for perishable items under multiple advanced and delayed payments policies

This study investigated an economic order quantity (EOQ) model with completebackorder for fixed lifetime perishable items under multiple advance and delayedpayments policies. Here, a new type of business policy is consideredwhere supplieroffers the retailer to pay a fraction of the purchasing cost before the order deliverybymultiple equal installments starting from the ordering time and the rest amountafter the delivery by multiple equal installments. Here, some theoretical results areillustrated to determine the conditions of existence and uniqueness of the optimalsolutions. A closed form solution is determined to solve the proposed model underapproximation. Some numerical examples are provided to examine the validity ofthe proposed model. Finally, sensitivity analyses are presented to obtain the effectof optimal policy and provide some managerial insights of the model.