Multi-mycotoxin exposure and risk assessments for Chinese consumption of nuts and dried fruits

Abstract

In this study, 15 mycotoxins were detected in 233 nut and dried fruit samples from China. The 15 mycotoxins included aflatoxins (AFs: AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2), trichothecene toxins (TCs: T-2, ZEA, ENA, ENA1, ENB, ENB1 and BEA), Alternaria toxins (ATs: TEN, AOH and AME) and ochratoxin A (OTA). The mycotoxins were detected in 47.6% of the samples and all 15 of the mycotoxins were found. Two samples were positive for AFB1 and exceeded the maximum tolerable levels allowed in China. The contamination levels of the mycotoxins found in nuts, dried jujubes, raisins, dried figs and dried longans were in the ranges of 0.1–462.7, 0.2–247.3, 0.8–10.1, 0.2–384.1 and 0.1–89.2 µg kg−1, respectively. Dried figs (80.0%) had the highest incidence of mycotoxins, followed by dried longans (60.0%), dried jujubes (57.1%), nuts (43.6%) and raisins (26.7%). The estimated daily intake (EDI) values of each individual mycotoxin and all of the mycotoxins collectively were calculated by both the deterministic approach (DA) and the probability approach (PA). For risk characterization, dietary exposure to TCs, ATs and OTA through consumption of nuts and dried fruits according to both approaches, showed no health risk to Chinese adults by exposure to either individual mycotoxins or in combination. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work in which risk assessment of multimycotoxins is performed, specifically including the emerging ENNs and BEA, in nuts and dried fruits of China.