Mikotoxinok a gabonatermesztésben: az élelmiszerbiztonsági kihívás

A gabonatermesztés a maga 15 millió t éves termelésével a legfontosabb élelmiszer- és takarmány alapanyagokat szolgáltatja. A kalászosokat és a kukoricát a Fusarium fajok fenyegetik leginkább, amelyek termés és minőségi problémákon túl a toxinszennyezéssel (deoxynivalenol, zearalenon, T-1 toxin, fuminizinek) okozzák a legnagyobb kárt. Ezért ezek jelentik az első számú biztonsági kockázatot a veszélyeztetett években. Alapvető nemzetgazdasági érdek az élelmiszer- és takarmánybiztonsági követelmények teljesítése. A feladatot rezisztencianemesítéssel, hatékonyabb fungicides védelemmel és a fajtaminősítéssel együttesen lehet megoldani. A rezisztencianemesítés területén már rendelkezésre állnak a nagymértékben ellenálló búzatörzsek, amelyek felhasználásával intenzív fajtaelőállító programba kezdtünk, hogy termőképes és jó minőségű rezisztens fajtákat állítsunk elő. A fungicides védelem tekintetében kidolgoztunk egy sokkal hatékonyabb eljárást, amely minimális ráfordítással (5 Ft/ha) lényegesen növeli a hatékonyságot. Folyamatban van a búza fajtaminősítési módszertanának kidolgozása, amellyel megvédhetjük a hazai termelőket a nagyon érzékeny fajták elterjedésétől. Ezt a munkát kukoricában szintén el kívánjuk indítani, hogy a takarmánybázis biztonsága megfelelő legyen a veszélyeztetett években is. The cereal production in Hungary (15 million t/year) is hazarded by Fusarium spp. that cause not only yield and quality losses, but through the production of a number of mycotoxins they jeopardize the whole remaining yield (deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, T-2 toxin, fumonisins as most important). Therefore they represent the No. 1 safety problem in epidemic years. There is a fundamental national interest to fulfill the EU regulations for toxin contamination. The task can be solved by breeding for resistance, more effective fungicide use and by a more effective process of registration. For wheat the methodology of breeding is ready, highly resistant lines are in the nursery and an intensive breeding program started several years ago to combine high FHB resistance with high yielding and quality. In the fungicide use we developed a more effective fungicide technology that increases the efficacy of the treatment by about 60% with minimum costs (5 Ft/ha, 1 Euro is about 260 Ft). The methodology for the registration is under development in a project for wheat, for corn the work started. These three activities are necessary to protect growers from the susceptible cultivars, provide them more resistant cultivars, more effective fungicides and better technology to secure safety for humans and the animal husbandry

Losses in the Grain Supply Chain: Causes and Solutions

Global grain production needs a significant increase in output in the coming decades in order to cover the food and feed consumption needs of mankind. As sustainability is the key factor in production, the authors investigate global grain production, the losses along the value chain, and future solutions. Global wheat, maize, rice, and soybean production peaked at 2.102 million tons (mt) of harvested grain in 2018. Pre-harvest losses due to diseases, animal pests, weeds, and abiotic stresses and harvest destroy yearly amount to about 35% of the total possible biological product of 3.153 mt, with 1051.5 mt being lost before harvest. The losses during harvest and storage through toxin contamination are responsible for 690 mt, with a total of 1.741 mt or 83% of the total newly stored grain. Limited cooperation can be experienced between scientific research, plant breeding, plant protection, agronomy, and society, and in addition, their interdependence is badly understood. Plant breeding can help to reduce a significant part of field loss up to 300 mt (diseases, toxins, water and heat stress) and up to 220 mt during storage (toxin contamination). The direct and indirect impact of pest management on production lead to huge grain losses. The main task is to reduce grain losses during production and storage and consumption. Better harvest and storage conditions could prevent losses of 420 mt. The education of farmers by adopting the vocational school system is a key issue in the prevention of grain loss. In addition, extension services should be created to demonstrate farmers crop management in practice. A 50% reduction of grain loss and waste along the value chain seems to be achievable for the feeding 3–4 billion more people in a sustainable way without raising genetic yields of crop cultivar

Role of Fusarium species in mycotoxin contamination of maize

Mycotoxin contamination of maize and other cereals is a globally important risk for human and animal health. The most frequently detected mycotoxins in maize are trichothecenes, zearalenone and fumonisins, which are causative agents for various diseases in domestic animals and they are a threat to humans either directly or indirectly. The main producers of these mycotoxins, Fusarium species are considered the most important pathogens in the temperate climate zone of maize. Between 2011 and 2014 numerous incidence of Fusarium species and mycotoxins were assessed from Hungarian maize samples after harvest. Samples were collected from 8-10 maize growing areas of Hungary from hybrids with various resistant levels. The isolated Fusarium strains were identified using morphologic and sequence-based methods. In 2011 and 2012 14.3% and 9.2% of maize samples were found to be contaminated with potentially toxigenic isolates. The ratios of Fusarium isolates were 60.3% and 68.1%, respectively. In 2013 and in the highly humid 2014, 50.1% and 71.4% of maize grains were contaminated, while 46% and 84.9% of the isolated fungal strains belonged to genus Fusarium. F. verticillioides isolates were identified in the largest proportion of the samples, which are potential fumonisin producers. Along with these species F. graminearum, F. proliferatum, F. subglutinans and F. sporotrichioides isolates were also observed, which can produce trichothecens, beauvericin, moniliformin and toxin T-2. Representatives of Fusarium culmorum were not detected in any of the years examined

Occurrence of potential mycotoxin producing fungi on maize kernel in Hungary

Maize is one of the most important ingredients of animal feed formulations. Fusarium species are important pathogens of maize, causing various diseases, and contamination of maize kernel by mycotoxins including trichothecenes, zearalenone and fumonisins. Aspergillus and Penicillium species and their mycotoxins including aflatoxins, ochratoxins, fumonisins and patulin are also frequently encountered on cereal products. We investigated the occurrence of these species and their mycotoxins on maize in various maize growing areas in Hungary in 2010 and 2011 years after harvest. Surface-sterilized cereal seeds were placed on selective media, and the isolated fungal strains were identified using morphological methods. 81.94% and 14.33% of the samples were found to be contaminated with potentially toxigenic isolates in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Species identifications of selected isolates have been carried out using sequence-based methods. Regarding Fusarium species, in 2010, when the weather was rainy, F. graminearum and F. subglutinans dominated, while in 2011 with hot and dry summer F. verticillioides was the predominant species identified. F. culmorum could not be detected in any of the samples. Regarding Aspergilli, several Aspergillus flavus isolates were identified, which are potential aflatoxin producers. Besides, other mycotoxin producer species were also isolated, including black Aspergilli which potentially produce ochratoxins and fumonisins, and A. clavatus, which produces patulin. Other genera (Alternaria, Nigrospora, Epicoccum, Cladosporium) were found in smaller proportions. Besides, the protective maize endophyte Acremonium zeae was also identified in some of the samples. Further studies are in progress to examine the mycotoxin producing abilities of the isolates, mycotoxin content of the maize samples, and the applicability of Acremonium zeae isolates for lowering fungal burden and mycotoxin contamination of maize

Natural fusarium toxin contamination of wheat in Southern part of Hungary

Fusarium head blight (FHB), primarily caused by a fungal plant pathogen Fusarium graminearum, is a devastating disease of wheat and other cereals. FHB reduces yield, but also the quality and feeding value of the crop. The fungus produces the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) that poses a significant threat to the health of domestic animals and humans. In 2019 Fusarium epidemic occurred not only the southern and eastern parts of Hungary, but affected other area of Central Europe. The mycotoxin patterns varied tremendously, depending on the geographic area, different resistance levels of wheat genotypes, weather and soil conditions and cropping factors. In this survey 192 samples of different bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes from three geographically different regions were tested for DON toxin contamination by HPLC-MS method. Average levels of mycotoxin contamination 3.80 mg/kg; it is three times higher than the European maximum limit for unprocessed cereals intended for human consumption. The content range is very wide (0.15 – 20.71 mg/kg), 76% of the samples exceeded the EU risk threshold level

OCCURRENCE OF ASPERGILLUS FLAVUS ON CEREALS IN HUNGARY

Climate change affects the occurrence of fungi and their mycotoxins in our foods and feeds. A shift has recently been observed in the occurrence of aflatoxin producers in Europe, with consequent aflatoxin contamination in agricultural commodities in several European countries not facing with this problem before including Northern Italy, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania and Ukraine. Although aflatoxin contamination of agricultural products is not treated as a serious threat to Hungarian agriculture due to climatic conditions, these observations led us to examine the mycobiota and mycotoxin content of different cereals including maize, wheat and barley collected from different locations in Hungary. The surface-sterilized cereal seeds were placed on selective media, and the isolated fungal strains were identified using morphological and sequence-based methods. Several Aspergillus flavus isolates were identified, which are potential aflatoxin producers. This species was identified on cereal seeds in different regions of Hungary. Maize, wheat and barley seeds were contaminated with infection rates of 0.83%, 3.17% and 2%, respectively. Further studies are in progress to examine the aflatoxin producing abilities and genetic variability of the isolates, and mycotoxin content of the cereal samples

Don toxin mennyiségének változása kovászos tésztában

Content of DON toxin in cereals and cereal based foods is regulated because of its health risk. It is published that DON can be found in masked form what can be a source of DON formation by fermentation. The aim of this study was monitoring the changes of DON content in a longfermentation sourdough baking technology. Although no masked DON or DON derivatives were found in the flour, we have measured significance DON increase (35%) even after one day of fermentation. The source of this considerable DON increase and the influence of the amount of yeast on DON content were studied. The results show that unpublished DON precursor can be the source of DON formation in our fermentation process.Gabonák és a belőlük készült élelmiszerek szabad DON mennyiségét rendeletek szabályozzák annak egészségügyi kockázata miatt. Ismert, hogy a DON toxinok kötött formában is előfordulhatnak, melyek forrásai lehetnek szabad DON képződésnek fermentációs hidrolízis révén. Kísérleteinkben azt vizsgáltuk, hogy a hosszú kovászos technológia miként befolyásolhatja a szabad DON tartalmának mennyiségét. Habár a lisztek előzetes vizsgálata során nem mértünk jelentős mennyiségű ismert kötött, ill. származék DON toxint, mégis szignifikáns DON növekedést (35%) tapasztaltunk már 1 napos fermentációt követően is. Vizsgáltuk, hogy mi lehet az eredete a nagymértékű DON növekedésnek, valamint vizsgáltuk az élesztő mennyiségének befolyásoló hatását a szabad DON megjelenésében. Eredményeink azt mutatják, hogy lehet olyan ismeretlen DON prekurzor, amelyből jelentős mennyiségű DON képes felszabadulni fermentációs folyamatoknak köszönhetően.&nbsp

Don toxin mennyiségének változása kovászos tésztában

Absztrakt: Gabonák és a belőlük készült élelmiszerek szabad DON mennyiségét rendeletek szabályozzák annak egészségügyi kockázata miatt. Ismert, hogy a DON toxinok kötött formában is előfordulhatnak, melyek forrásai lehetnek szabad DON képződésnek fermentációs hidrolízis révén. Kísérleteinkben azt vizsgáltuk, hogy a hosszú kovászos technológia miként befolyásolhatja a szabad DON tartalmának mennyiségét. Habár a lisztek előzetes vizsgálata során nem mértünk jelentős mennyiségű ismert kötött, ill. származék DON toxint, mégis szignifikáns DON növekedést (35%) tapasztaltunk már 1 napos fermentációt követően is. Vizsgáltuk, hogy mi lehet az eredete a nagymértékű DON növekedésnek, valamint vizsgáltuk az élesztő mennyiségének befolyásoló hatását a szabad DON megjelenésében. Eredményeink azt mutatják, hogy lehet olyan ismeretlen DON prekurzor, amelyből jelentős mennyiségű DON képes felszabadulni fermentációs folyamatoknak köszönhetően. Abstract: Content of DON toxin in cereals and cereal based foods is regulated because of its health risk. It is published that DON can be found in masked form what can be a source of DON formation by fermentation. The aim of this study was monitoring the changes of DON content in a longfermentation sourdough baking technology. Although no masked DON or DON derivatives were found in the flour, we have measured significance DON increase (35%) even after one day of fermentation. The source of this considerable DON increase and the influence of the amount of yeast on DON content were studied. The results show that unpublished DON precursor can be the source of DON formation in our fermentation process