Fusarium Mycotoxins in Swiss Wheat: A Survey of Growers' Samples between 2007 and 2014 Shows Strong Year and Minor Geographic Effects.

Susanne Vogelgsang,Irene Bänziger,Hans-Rudolf Forrer,Andreas Kägi,Felix E Wettstein,Thomas D Bucheli,Matias Pasquali,Tomke Musa

doi:10.3390/toxins9080246

Abstract

To assess the occurrence of Fusarium toxins in wheat in Switzerland, an eight-year survey was conducted by analysing a total of 686 harvest samples from growers using LC-MS/MS. Between 2007 and 2010, 527 samples were obtained from 17 cantons. Between 2011 and 2014, 159 samples were collected from the canton Berne. The most frequent toxins detected were deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEA) and nivalenol (NIV). The overall mean DON content in all samples was 607 µg/kg, and 11% exceeded the European limit for unprocessed cereals for foodstuffs (1250 µg/kg). For ZEA (mean 39 µg/kg), 7% exceeded the respective limit (100 µg/kg), and the mean content of NIV (no limit established) was 15 µg/kg. Between the years, the ratio of mycotoxin-contaminated samples ranged between 52% and 98% for DON, 9% and 43% for ZEA and 0% and 49% for NIV. The yearly mean contents varied substantially between 68 and 1310 µg/kg for DON, 5 and 56 µg/kg for ZEA and 6 and 29 µg/kg for NIV. The geographic origin showed a significant effect on DON and ZEA contamination, but was inconsistent between the years. This study has shown that the majority of Swiss-produced wheat is, in terms of Fusarium toxins, fit for human consumption and feed purposes. Nevertheless, depending on the year, high toxin contents can be expected, an issue that growers, cereal collection centres and the food industry have to deal with to ensure food and feed safety.

Highlights

Small-grain cereals are commonly infected by various species from the fungal genus Fusarium, leading to Fusarium head blight (FHB) as one of the world most noxious cereal diseases [1]
The predominant mycotoxins were DON, followed by ZEA and NIV, whereas other Fusarium mycotoxins were only sporadically detected. This finding is most probably due to the presence of three of the most frequent Fusarium species in Europe, F. graminearum, F. poae and F. culmorum, e.g., [14,38,39,40], the latter seems to be decreasing during the last decades [41,42]
The current study, examining 686 wheat samples throughout eight years, has shown that Swiss wheat is frequently contaminated by Fusarium mycotoxins, in particular by DON, ZEA and NIV

Summary

Introduction

Small-grain cereals are commonly infected by various species from the fungal genus Fusarium, leading to Fusarium head blight (FHB) as one of the world most noxious cereal diseases [1]. The type-B trichothecenes, such as deoxynivalenol (DON) and the co-contaminants 3- or 15-acetyl DON (3- or 15-Ac-DON), are produced predominantly by F. graminearum and F. culmorum, whereas nivalenol (NIV) is a common contaminant in cereals infected with F. poae [14,15,16]. Another mycotoxin frequently produced by F. graminearum is zearalenone (ZEA), a macrocyclic β-resorcyclic acid lactone, which possesses low cellular toxicity, but high estrogenic activity, commonly leading to hyperestrogenism and fertility problems [17]

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