Survey of mycotoxins in Southern Brazilian wheat and evaluation of immunoassay methods

One hundred commercial wheat grain samples were collected during the 2015 sea-son across 78 municipalities in the states of Paraná (PR), Rio Grande do Sul (RS), and São Paulo (SP), Brazil. Separate subsamples were analyzed for the concentration of deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenona (ZEA) and ochratoxin A (OTA) mycotoxins using two methods: UHPLC-MS/MS (reference method) and a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (AgraQuant®). The OTA mycotoxin was not found in the samples by both methods. DON and ZEA were detected in 55 % and 39 % of the samples by the reference method, with overall mean levels of 795.2 μg kg−1 and 79.78 μg kg−1, respectively. There was a significant and positive correlation (Spearman rank) between DON and ZEA estimates by the reference method (r = 0.77, p < 0.001). The DON levels estimated by the immunoassay agreed poorly with the reference, being largely overestimated. Based on a cut-off level of 1000 μg kg−1, the immunoassay correctly classified 57 samples as true negatives and 15 as true positives. Only 28 were classified as false positives. For ZEA, the levels estimated by the two methods were in better agreement than for DON. Using the cut-off level of 200 μg kg−1, 96 % of the samples were classified correctly as true positives and only one sample was classified as false positive. The levels for both mycotoxins were mostly acceptable for human consumption. Further studies should focus on multi-toxin methods compared with immunoassays to understand the reasons of overestimation and the role of immunoassays as a cost-effective solution for fast screening of mycotoxins in the food chain

Ochratoxin A and citrinin loads in stored wheat grains: impact of grain dust and possible prediction using ergosterol measurement.

&lt;p&gt;Crop storage should be carried out under hygienic conditions to ensure safe products, but sometimes grain dust which has settled from previous storage may be left over and incorporated to the following stored grains. This paper describes the results obtained using a lab model developed in order to assess the impact of grain dust incorporation for its direct contribution as a contaminant but also as an inoculum in stored wheat. Settled grain dust (4 samples) released from Belgian grain storages were collected and analysed by HPLC for ergosterol, ochratoxin A (OTA) and citrinin (CIT) content. For OTA and for ergosterol, there was a high degree of variability in concentrations found in the dust samples (from 17.3-318 ng g(-1) and from 39-823 microg g(-1), respectively) whilst for CIT, the range was less significant (from 137-344 ng g(-1)). Incorporation of grain dust into wheat storage contributed to an increase in the concentrations of mycotoxins in the stored grain. Dust acts as a contaminant and as an inoculum. According to these two ways, patterns of mycotoxin generation vary with the nature of the mycotoxin, the mycotoxigenic potential of dust and the water activity of the wheat. OTA and CIT showed a very versatile image when considering the amounts of toxins produced under the selected experimental conditions. The development of a robust tool to forecast the mycotoxigenicity of dust was based on the determination of ergosterol content as a general marker of fungal biomass. Present results suggest that this predictive tool would only be valid for predicting the contamination level of CIT and OTA at reasonable moisture content (14-20%). The potential risk of having highly contaminated batches from stock to stock may thus occur and this paper discusses possible pathways leading to OTA and CIT contamination either under wet or dry storage conditions. We therefore, recommend taking precautionary measures not only by controlling and maintaining moisture at a reasonable level during storage of the raw materials but also by paying more attention to the cleaning of the stores before loading in the new harvests.&lt;/p&gt;</p

Cross-reactivity of antibodies in some commercial deoxynivalenol test kits against some fusariotoxins.

&lt;p&gt;Cross-reactivity of antibodies in AGRAQUANT, DON EIA, VERATOX, ROSA LF-DONQ, and MYCONTROLDON designed for deoxynivalenol (DON) determination in food and feedstuffs was evaluated against nivalenol, 3-acetylDON, 15-acetylDON, de-epoxy metabolite 1 of DON, DON-3β-glucoside, T2-toxin, HT2-toxin, fusarenone X, diacetoxyscirpenol, verrucarol, and zearalenone. Cross-reactivity measurements were run in water using the 50% reduction of absorbance of the blank for ELISA kits or through direct DON determination upon using the standards of mycotoxins via ROSA LF-DONQ or MYCONTROLDON. For the tested toxin concentrations, all DON kits have low cross-reactivity toward diacetoxyscirpenol, T2-toxin, HT2-toxin, verrucarol, and zearalenone and moderate cross-reactivity toward 15-AcetylDON and fusarenone X. AGRAQUANT, DON EIA, and VERATOX kits showed high cross-reactivity in various ranking orders against DON-3-Glc, DOM-1, and 3AcDON. DON EIA showed also high cross-reactivity against nivalenol and fusarenone X. These mycotoxins could coexist in food or feedstuffs, and analytical results can be wrongly interpreted. Cross-reactivity does not allow checking the compliance with the legal norms, but it does allow an overall risk assessment for the consumers. Updating regularly the cross-reactivity evaluation of the produced batches is recommended for 3-acetylDON, nivalenol, DON-3-Glc, de-epoxy metabolite 1, and fusarenone X.&lt;/p&gt;</p

Report on the 2018 Multimycotoxin Proficiency Test: Determining 12 mycotoxins in cornflakes

The main objective of this proficiency test (PT) is to provide interested laboratories with an opportunity to test their multi-mycotoxin methods on 12 mycotoxins and 3 sums of mycotoxins at the same time on oat flour and to compare their interlaboratory results. The PT allowed the determination of the following toxins: aflatoxin B1 (AfB1), aflatoxin B2 (AfB2), aflatoxin G1 (AfG1), aflatoxin G2 (AfG2), ochratoxin A (OTA), fumonisin B1 (FB1), fumonisin B1 (FB2), fumonisin B3 (FB3), zearalenone (ZEN), deoxynivalenol (DON), T2-toxin (T2), HT2-toxin (HT2). In addition, three sums of mycotoxins were included: the sum of FB1 and FB2, the sum of the aflatoxins (AfB1, AfB2, AfG1 &amp; AfG2) and the sum of T2 &amp; HT2 toxin. 24 participants were accounted for of which one participant chose to report with two different methods and which will be counted as a separate participation so 25 results in total are used for the report. Participants were invited to report the mean value and measurement uncertainty of their results. The assigned values (Vass) and their uncertainties (u(xa)) were determined as the consensus of participantsí results. Standard deviations for proficiency assessment were calculated using the modified Horwitz&nbsp;equation.</p

Mycotoxin analyses in some home produced eggs in Belgium reveal small contribution to the total daily intake.

&lt;p&gt;Low levels of deoxynivalenol (DON, range: 2.6-17.9 ng/g) and its metabolite de-epoxy-DON (DOM-1, range: 2.4-23.7 ng/g) were found in 20 home-produced egg samples collected in Belgium during autumn 2006 (from 10 breeders) and spring 2007 (same breeders). DON intake assessment showed that the consumption of these eggs may contribute to less than 1% of the provisional maximum tolerable daily intake of 1 microg/kg body weight established by FAO/WHO. None of the egg samples analyzed had quantifiable levels of zearalenone (ZEA), alpha-zearalenol, beta-zearalenol, ochratoxin A (OTA) and citrinin (CIT). Intake of DON, ZEA, OTA and CIT via the consumption of home produced eggs seems not to be a matter of concern. Despite this, we recommend to continue in screening other eggs allowing to increase the sample size and the subsequent conclusion for mycotoxin contamination in eggs. As home produced food is generally not submitted to any compliance control and may be consumed in large quantities by their producers and other household members, it is worthwhile to further pay attention to the quality of feed as well as the environment in which the hens live.&lt;/p&gt;</p

METROFOOD-RI: Inventory of the facilities and organisation of the physical infrastructure

&lt;p&gt;METROFOOD-RI is a Research Infrastructure (RI) for Promoting Metrology in Food and Nutrition composed by a Physical (P-RI) and an electronic (e-RI) infrastructure which are strictly interconnected. PRO-METROFOOD Project (H2020 INFRADEV-02-2016, GA n.739568) represents the “Early Phase” of the RI and has among its objectives the definition of the operational capacities of the P-RI, with the design of its scientific services. The facilities have been inventoried and classified in a database, which provides an organized overview of the capacities of the distributed P-RI.&lt;/p&gt;</p