Fumonisins in African Countries

Maize and other cereals are the commodities most contaminated with fumonisins. The maize acreage is increasing in Africa, and the maize harvest provides important foods for humans and feeds for domestic animals throughout the continent. In North Africa, high levels of fumonisins have been reported from Algeria and Morocco, while low levels have been detected in the rather few fumonisin analyses reported from Tunisia and Egypt. The West African countries Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, and Nigeria all report high levels of fumonisin contamination of maize, while the few maize samples analysed in Togo contain low levels. In Eastern Africa, high levels of fumonisin contamination have been reported from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The samples analysed from Rwanda contained low levels of fumonisins. Analysis of maize from the Southern African countries Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe revealed high fumonisin levels, while low levels of fumonisins were detected in the few analyses of maize from Botswana and Mozambique.Fumonisins in African CountriespublishedVersio

Cloning and conjugational transfer of chitinase encoding genes

A genomic library of chromosomal DNA from Serratia marcescens was constructed in the broad host range cosmid pLAFR3. Chitinase positive clones were identified on a chitin medium. By conjugational transfer chitinase encoding plasmids were transferred to Pseudomonas spp

Evaluation of Ethiopian maize cultivars for resistance to Fusarium verticillioides and fumonisin accumulation

The objective of this study was to find sources of resistance to Fusarium ear rot and fumonisin accumulation in maize germplasm. Totally 15 maize cultivars were evaluated by means of silk channel inoculation using a fumonisin producing F. verticillioides isolate in field trials during 2013 and 2014 cropping seasons. Fusarium ear rot severity was determined at harvest, and fumonisin content was quantified using competitive Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The percentage of infected kernels per maize ear after inoculation, ranged from 5% to 60% in 2013 and from 3% to 40% in 2014. Fumonisin accumulation in maize cultivars ranged from 2700 to 76300 µg/kg in 2013 and from 1800 to 52700 µg/kg in 2014. Maize cultivars Berihu, Melkassa-2, Melkassa-7, Melkassa-4, BHQP542 and MHQ-138 showed low level of ear rot (3.9% to 22.9%) and total fumonisins (2300 to 17300 µg/kg) across the two years experiment. Cultivars that had low disease severity are useful in breeding programs aiming at developing cultivars resistance to fumonisin accumulation

Detection of total fumonisins produced by Fusarium verticillioides (Sacc) isolates from maize kernels in Ethiopia

Fusarium verticillioides is the most common fungal pathogen of maize in Ethiopia. Many strains of this pathogen produce fumonisin myotoxins that are harmful to human and animal health. This study was conducted to determine the fumonisin-producing ability of isolates of F. verticillioides isolated from maize kernels collected from different maize- growing areas of the country. Eighty F. verticillioides isolates were grown on autoclaved maize cultures for one month, and the fumonisin content was quantified using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). All the 80 isolates evaluated were able to produce detectable levels of total fumonisins in the maize culture with values ranging from 0.25 to 38.01 mg of the toxin per kg of culture material (fungal biomass and maize kernels). The mean levels of total fumonisins produced by the F. verticillioides isolates were not significantly (p>0.05) different among maize growing areas, however, the total fumonisins levels produced by isolates obtained from the same area as well as agroecological zones were wide-ranging. The results indicate that the majority (57.5%) of the F. verticillioides isolates associated with maize grains in Ethiopia produced total fumonisins >4 mg/kg, while 35% of the isolates produced total fumonisins <2 mg/kg. The widespread occurrence of higher fumonisin-producing strains across all maize-growing areas in Ethiopia indicates a possible food safety risk. Thus, efforts should be made to prevent the spread of this fungus with good agronomic practices and to implore all possible ways to avoid maize contamination with fumonisin both in the field and in storage.publishedVersio

Assessment of Quarantine Pest Dispersal from Norwegian Potato and Root Vegetable Packing Plants with Evaluation of Risk Reducing Options. Opinion of the Panel on Plant Health of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

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Comparison of organic and conventional food and food Production. Part V: Human health – pesticide residues

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Comparison of organic and conventional food and food Production. Part IV: Human health – hygiene and pathogens

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Impact on health when sugar is replaced with intense sweeteners in soft drinks, ‘saft’ and nectar. Opinion of Vitenskapskomiteen for mattrygghet Norwegian Scientific Commitee for Food Safety

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Comparison of organic and conventional food and food production. Part II: Animal health and welfare in Norway

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Risk assessment on the use of triclosan in cosmetics. Prepared by the Scientific Committee in cooperation with the Panel on Biological Hazards and the Panel on Food Additives, Flavourings, Processing Aids, Materials in contact with Food and Cosmetics

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