Simultaneous determination of mycotoxin in commercial coffee

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi that usually contaminate food products. Coffee is a natural product susceptible to mycotoxin contamination. The present study evaluates the presence of nivalenol, deoxynivalenol, T-2 and HT-2 Toxin, diacetoxyscirpenol, aflatoxin B₁, aflatoxin B₂, aflatoxin G₁, aflatoxin G₂, fumonisin B₁, fumonisin B₂, ochratoxin A, zearalenone, enniatin A, enniatin A₁, enniatin B, enniatin B₁, and beauvericin in coffee samples, using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The results show that zearalenone was not present in any sample. In the positive samples the contents of fumonisins ranged from 58.62 to 537.45 μg/kg, emerging mycotoxins ranged from 0.10 to 3569.92 μg/kg, aflatoxins ranged from 0.25 to 13.12 μg/kg, and trichothecenes, excepting nivalenol, ranged from 5.70 to 325.68 μg/kg. Nivalenol presented the highest concentrations, from 0.40 to 25.86 mg/kg. Ochratoxin A ranged from 1.56 to 32.40 μg/kg, and five samples exceeded the maximum limit established by the European Commission.     

Co-occurrence and evaluation of mycotoxins in organic and conventional rye grain and products

A study on the co-occurrence of Fusarium toxins in conventional and organic grain and derived products was carried out. A total of 117 samples were collected during the period 2009–2012. Eight mycotoxins were determined using the LC-MS/MS method. Among the investigated mycotoxins, four were of major importance: DON, ZEN, T-2 and HT-2. DON was present at the highest concentration in both the agricultural systems, with its maximum level of 254 ± 23 μg kg⁻¹ being present in conventional rye grain. The co-occurrence of two or more mycotoxins was observed in more than 50% of samples, with the most frequent combination being DON + ZEN. The correlation between the concentrations of T-2 and HT-2, DON and ZEN, as well as T-2 and ZEN was confirmed statistically. The concentration of DON, HT-2 and T-2 was significantly higher in conventional products. Also the higher level of ZEN in organic grain in comparison to derived products was significant. None of the samples contained DAS, while NlV, MAS and 3ADON concentrations were close to the detection limits.     

Occurrence and risk assessment of mycotoxins,acrylamide, and furan in Latvian beer

This work reports data on the occurrence of nine mycotoxins and two food processing contaminants – acrylamide and furan – in a total of 100 beers produced in Latvia. Mycotoxins were detected by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry, acrylamide by HPLC coupled with quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometry, and furan by headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The most frequently occurring mycotoxins were HT-2 and deoxynivalenol (DON), which were detected in 52% and 51% of the analysed samples. The highest content was observed for DON, reaching the maximum of 248 µg kg^?1. Furan was ubiquitous, and 74% of the samples contained acrylamide. In terms of the estimated exposure, the biggest potential risk was identified for HT-2 representing more than 11% of tolerable weekly intake. The margin of exposure approach indicated the exposure to furan through beer as significant, this parameter being close to the critical limit.     

High hydrostatic pressure assisted degradation of patulin in fruit and vegetable juice blends

The degradation of patulin introduced into different juices then treated with high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) was evaluated. A model juice prepared from apple and spinach (AS) was studied along with commercially available apple-based beverages; Pineapple:Apple:Mint (PAM), Apple:Carrot:Beet:Lemon:Ginger (CAB) and Romaine:Celery:Cucumber:Apple:Spinach:Kale, Parsley:lemon (GJ). The extent of patulin degradation was found to be dependent on applied pressure and processing time (degradation rates ranged from 0.04 to 0.19 ppb/s). The extent of patulin degradation could also be significantly (P < 0.05) correlated with the sulfhydryl group concentration of the juice with ascorbic acid and nitrite being less significant. HHP treatment of 600 MPa for 300 s at 11 °C resulted in a 62 ppb decrease in patulin introduced into GJ juice which also contained the highest level of thiols (97 μM). The thiol concentration of the other juices ranged between 39 and 69 μM with a corresponding decrease in patulin of 43–49 ppb following the same HHP treatment. The study has illustrated that HHP can be applied as a risk management tool to control patulin in apple based beverages although the extent of mycotoxin degradation is dependent on processing conditions and composition of the juice.     

Rapid and standardized methods for detection of foodborne pathogens and mycotoxins on fresh produce

Due to the increase in consumption of fresh produce regarding to the health demand in the last decades, a considerable portion of foodborne outbreaks has been trackbacked to contaminated fresh produce, which have appeared as highly possible vehicles for foodborne outbreaks nowadays. Delays in detection of pathogens and mycotoxins on fresh produce hindered the trace-back investigations in finding the source and revealed the urgent need of rapid and reliable methods. In the frame of this review, we summarized available fast, reliable and standardized methods (conventional, molecular, rapid and recently developed methods) used for detection of the most common foodborne pathogens and mycotoxins which are the most likely causative agents of outbreaks caused by contaminated fresh produce.     

Levels of mycotoxins and sample cytotoxicity of selected organic and conventional grain-based products purchased from Finnish and Italian markets

The contamination levels of 16 different Fusarium- and Aspergillus-mycotoxins were chemically determined from randomly selected organic and conventional grain-based products purchased from Finnish and Italian markets. The cytotoxicity of the samples was analyzed with an in vitro test using feline fetal lung cells. Overall, the concentrations of the mycotoxins studied were low in all of the samples. Enniatins B and B1 as well as deoxynivalenol were the most predominant mycotoxins in the samples, being present in 97%, 97%, and 90% of the samples, respectively. The geographical origin or the agricultural practice had no influence on the mycotoxin concentrations of the samples. The babyfoods included in the samples had significantly lower concentrations of mycotoxins than the other products with a mean total mycotoxin content of 47 microg/kg compared with 99 microg/kg for the other kinds of food. All the samples evoked toxicity in the in vitro test, but no correlation between cytotoxicity and the mycotoxin concentrations was observed.     

Recent advances on the use of adsorbent materials for detoxification of Fusarium mycotoxins

The extensive use of adsorbents in the livestock industry has led to the introduction of a wide range of new products on the market, most of them claiming high in vitro mycotoxin adsorption capacity. However, adsorbents that may appear effective in vitro do not necessarily retain their efficacy when tested in vivo. Studies performed in our laboratory during the past few years aiming to evaluate the efficacy of various adsorbent materials in binding Fusarium mycotoxins are reported. Adsorption experiments were performed in in vitro screening tests for Fusarium mycotoxins at different pHs; by in vivo tests using the increase of the sphinganine to sphingosine ratio in rat urine and tissues as a biomarker of fumonisin exposure; and by a dynamic, computer-controlled, gastrointestinal model simulating the gastrointestinal tract of healthy pigs. Most of the commercially available mycotoxin-binders failed in sequestering in vitro Fusarium mycotoxins. Only for a small number of adsorbent materials was the ability to bind more than one mycotoxin demonstrated. Cholestyramine was proven to be an effective binder for fumonisins and zearalenone in vitro, which was confirmed for zearalenone in experiments using a dynamic gastrointestinal model and for fumonisins in in vivo experiments. No adsorbent materials, with the exception of activated carbon, showed relevant ability in binding deoxynivalenol and nivalenol. The in vitro efficacy of activated carbon toward fumonisins was not confirmed in vivo by the biomarker assay. The dynamic gastrointestinal model was a reliable tool to study the effectiveness of adsorbent materials in reducing the bioaccessibility of Fusarium mycotoxins, as an alternative to the more difficult and time-consuming studies with domestic livestock.     

Application of near infrared spectroscopy for rapid detection of aflatoxin B1 in maize and barley as analytical quality assessment

The establishment of fast and non-destructive methods for the evaluation of quality and safety of raw grains is being demanded nowadays to avoid toxic substance presence. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) has been recognised by the International Agency of Research on Cancer as a group 1 carcinogen for animals and humans and the EU Official Journal has established action levels for AFB1 presence in all feed materials between 5 and 20 ppb. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is an excellent candidate for a rapid and low-cost method for the detection of aflatoxins in cereals. This study assesses the utility of NIRS for rapid detection of mycotoxigenic fungi as AFB1. A total of 152 samples were involved and analysed for aflatoxin content. The results of spectroscopic models developed have demonstrated that NIRS technology is an excellent alternative for fast AFB1 detection in cereals. The best predictive model to detect AFB1 in maize was obtained using standard normal variate and detrending (SNVD) as scatter correction (r² = 0.80 and 0.82; SECV = 0.211 and 0.200 for grating and FT-NIRS instruments, respectively). In the case of barley, the best predictive model was developed using SNVD on the dispersive NIRS instrument (r² = 0.85 and SECV = 0.176) and using spectral data as log 1/R for FT-NIRS (r² = 0.84 and SECV = 0.183).     

Innovative technologies to manage aflatoxins in foods and feeds and the profitability of application – A review

Aflatoxins are mainly produced by certain strains of Aspergillus flavus, which are found in diverse agricultural crops. In many lower-income countries, aflatoxins pose serious public health issues since the occurrence of these toxins can be considerably common and even extreme. Aflatoxins can negatively affect health of livestock and poultry due to contaminated feeds. Additionally, they significantly limit the development of international trade as a result of strict regulation in high-value markets. Due to their high stability, aflatoxins are not only a problem during cropping, but also during storage, transport, processing, and handling steps. Consequently, innovative evidence-based technologies are urgently required to minimize aflatoxin exposure. Thus far, biological control has been developed as the most innovative potential technology of controlling aflatoxin contamination in crops, which uses competitive exclusion of toxigenic strains by non-toxigenic ones. This technology is commercially applied in groundnuts maize, cottonseed, and pistachios during pre-harvest stages. Some other effective technologies such as irradiation, ozone fumigation, chemical and biological control agents, and improved packaging materials can also minimize post-harvest aflatoxins contamination in agricultural products. However, integrated adoption of these pre- and post-harvest technologies is still required for sustainable solutions to reduce aflatoxins contamination, which enhances food security, alleviates malnutrition, and strengthens economic sustainability.     

Distribution and variation of fungi and major mycotoxins in pre- and post-nature drying maize in North China Plain

Forty-four pre- and post-nature drying maize kernels were collected from North China Plain and assessed for fungi infection and mycotoxins contamination. The percentage of fungi infection was significantly higher in pre-nature drying samples than post-nature drying samples except for Fusariuim graminearum, which increases from 6.06% to 24.09%. Fusarium, Aspergillus, Alternaria and Trichoderma were main genera. Fusarium verticillioides (24.77%) and F. graminearum (15.08%) were predominant species, followed by Aspergillus niger (7.51%) and Aspergillus flavus (4.93%). FB₁ and DON were the major mycotoxins presented in the samples, followed by ZEN. All samples showed FB₁ ranging from 16.5 to 315.9 μg/kg. All post-nature drying maize kernels showed DON ranging from 5.8 to 9843.3 μg/kg, while 7 of 22 pre-nature drying samples contaminated with DON ranging from 50.7 to 776.6 μg/kg. The samples contaminated with ZEN in pre- and post-nature drying maize were 3, with the content ranging from 60.5 to 147.6 μg/kg and from 40.7 to 1056.8 μg/kg, respectively. Only 1 sample contaminated with AFB₁ of 148.4 μg/kg. The occurrence of mycotoxins is highly in accordance with the incidence of the corresponding mycotoxin-producing fungi. This is the first comprehensive comparison of fungi infection and mycotoxins contamination between pre- and post-nature drying maize kernels.