Abstract
Aromatic and medicinal plants (AMPs), as herbal material, are subjected to contamination by various mycotoxin-producing fungi, either free and conjugated. Such a problem is associated with poor storage practices, and lack of adopting good agricultural practices and good harvesting practices. Nevertheless, AMPs are poorly investigated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the co-occurrence of 15 mycotoxins (four aflatoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, and AFG2), ochratoxin A (OTA), beauvericin (BEA), four enniatins (ENA, ENA1, ENB, and ENB1), zearalenone (ZEN), alternariol (AOH), tentoxin (TENT), T-2, and HT-2 toxins) in 40 samples of AMPs frequently consumed in Morocco by using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Evaluation of conjugated mycotoxins and their identification using liquid chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry with ion mass exact was also carried out. Results showed that 90% of the analyzed samples presented at least one mycotoxin, and 52% presented co-occurrence of them. Mycotoxins detected were: AOH (85%), ZEN (27.5%), β-ZEL (22%), AFG1 (17.5%), TENT (17.5%), ENB (10%), AFG2 (7.5%), α-ZEL (5%), ENA1 (2.5%), and HT-2 (2.5%), while the conjugated mycotoxins were ZEN-14-Glc (11%) and ZEN-14-Sulf (9%). The highest observed level was for AOH, with 309 ng/g. Ten samples exceeded the recommended levels set by the European Pharmacopoeia for AF mycotoxins in plant material (4 ng/g), and three samples exceeded the maximum limits for AFs (10 ng/g) in species established by the European Commission. Although the co-occurrence of several mycotoxins in AMP samples was observed, the dietary exposure assessment showed that the intake of mycotoxins through the consumption of AMP beverages does not represent a risk for the population.
Highlights
Aromatic and medicinal plants (AMPs) are known to contain various compounds that can be valorized for several purposes, including preservative, therapeutic, and organoleptic proprieties, most of which are precursors for chemo-pharmaceutical semi-synthesis [1,2]
The aims of the present study were: (i) to develop a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method to determinate 15 mycotoxins in AMPs from Morocco; (ii) to develop a liquid chromatography coupled with a time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS) method as the screening tool to obtain confirmation, and the detection of possible co-occurrence non-target mycotoxins, including masked mycotoxins; and (iii) to apply the developed method in the most consumed Moroccan AMP varieties supplied from the Moroccan market to investigating their co-occurrence
Mycotoxin analysis showed that 90% of Moroccan AMP samples were positive and 52% presented co-occurrence
Summary
Aromatic and medicinal plants (AMPs) are known to contain various compounds that can be valorized for several purposes, including preservative, therapeutic, and organoleptic proprieties, most of which are precursors for chemo-pharmaceutical semi-synthesis [1,2]. Previous investigations reported that, under specific conditions, toxigenic fungal species from Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, and Alternaria genus can generate mycotoxins and contaminate herbal medicines These reports described mycotoxin contamination of medicinal herbs and related products, showing that mycotoxins, such as aflatoxins (AFs), ochratoxin A (OTA), zearalenone (ZEN), fumonisins, and trichothecenes are the most commonly present [6]. Another important point is related to the metabolization that can partially suffer from some mycotoxins, such as ZEN and deoxynivalenol (DON), by the fungus producer and by the infected host plant. Altered metabolites of mycotoxins are referred to as masked mycotoxins [16], it is important to perform a non-target analysis to study the formation, determination, and significance of masked and other conjugated mycotoxins present in foodstuffs [17]
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