Mycotoxins In Food Research Articles

Magnetic-fluorescent immunosensing platform applying AuNPs heterogeneous MIL-53(Al) composite for efficient detection of zearalenone

Rapid, sensitive, specific and stable detection of mycotoxin in food remains an extremely crucial issue. Herein, a magnetic-fluorescent immunosensing platform for the detection of zearalenone (ZEN) was proposed. The platform utilized Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) heterogeneous fluorescent metal–organic framework (MIL-53(Al)@AuNPs) labeled with ZEN-bovine serum albumin (ZEN-BSA) as signal probe and ZEN mono-antibodies coupled with magnetic NPs (MNPs-mAbs) as capture probe. Specifically, the heterogenization of AuNPs on the MIL-53(Al) surface improved its biocompatibility, and facilitated the loading of ZEN-BSA conjugates. The MNPs-mAbs could rapidly capture the target ZEN, simplify the immunoassay process and further improve the detection efficiency. The established competitive magnetic-fluorescent immunosensing platform had a wider linear response to ZEN in the range of 0.001–100 ng/mL with a lower limit of detection (LOD) at 0.0035 ng/mL, and could finish the whole detection process within 20 min, showing great potential for rapid and sensitive detection of food contaminants.

Recent Progress of Electrochemical Sensors in Food Analysis

Electrochemical sensors have the advantages of being sensitive, stable, selective, simple, fast, and cost-efficient, and they have attracted much attention in food analysis. Electrode modification materials are very important for the performance of electrochemical sensors. This review summarizes the type of electrode modification material (metal nanoparticles/metal oxides, conductive polymers, carbon materials, and the metal-organic framework and its composite materials) and the application progress of electrochemical sensors in food analysis, mainly including the detection of food additives, pesticide residues, veterinary drugs residue, heavy metals, and mycotoxins in food in the recent ten years. Moreover, the application of electrochemical sensors is prospected.

A comparative review on methods of detection and quantification of mycotoxins in solid food and feed: a focus on cereals and nuts.

Many emerging factors and circumstances urge the need to develop and optimize the detection and quantification techniques of mycotoxins in solid food and feed. The diversity of mycotoxins, which have different properties and affinities, makes the standardization of the analytical procedures and the adoption of a single protocol that covers the attributes of all mycotoxins a tedious or even an impossible mission. Several modifications and improvements have been undergone in order to optimize the performance of these methods including the extraction solvents, the extraction methods, the clean-up procedures, and the analytical techniques. The techniques range from the rapid screening methods, which lack sensitivity and specificity such as TLC, to a spectrum of more advanced protocols, namely, ELISA, HPLC, and GC-MS and LC-MS/MS. This review aims at assessing the current studies related to these analytical techniques of mycotoxins in solid food and feed. It discusses and evaluates, through a critical approach, various sample treatment techniques, and provides an in-depth examination of different mycotoxin detection methods. Furthermore, it includes a comparison of their actual accuracy and a thorough analysis of the observed benefits and drawbacks.

Mycotoxins in Cereal-Based Products and Their Impacts on the Health of Humans, Livestock Animals and Pets.

Cereal grains are the most important food staples for human beings and livestock animals. They can be processed into various types of food and feed products such as bread, pasta, breakfast cereals, cake, snacks, beer, complete feed, and pet foods. However, cereal grains are vulnerable to the contamination of soil microorganisms, particularly molds. The toxigenic fungi/molds not only cause quality deterioration and grain loss, but also produce toxic secondary metabolites, mycotoxins, which can cause acute toxicity, death, and chronic diseases such as cancer, immunity suppression, growth impairment, and neural tube defects in humans, livestock animals and pets. To protect human beings and animals from these health risks, many countries have established/adopted regulations to limit exposure to mycotoxins. The purpose of this review is to update the evidence regarding the occurrence and co-occurrence of mycotoxins in cereal grains and cereal-derived food and feed products and their health impacts on human beings, livestock animals and pets. The effort for safe food and feed supplies including prevention technologies, detoxification technologies/methods and up-to-date regulation limits of frequently detected mycotoxins in cereal grains for food and feed in major cereal-producing countries are also provided. Some important areas worthy of further investigation are proposed.

Determination of Multimycotoxin in Cereal-Based Products Sold in Open-Air Markets.

In this study, a total of 140 cereal-based foods sold in temporary open-air markets were analyzed by LC-MS/MS for aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, G2, ochratoxin (OTA), zearalenone (ZEN), deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisin B1, fumonisin B2, citrinin (CIT), HT-2, and T-2 toxins. Breakfast cereals (n:27), cornmeal (n:41), extruded maize (n:32), and oatmeal (n:40) purchased from these alternative shopping areas created to meet the food needs of low-income people in the suburbs formed the sample set of the study. These foods, which are sold in areas that are out of legal control and greatly affected by external environmental conditions, are more open to health risks. Mycotoxins, chemicals of a biological origin, are some of the most important of these risks. In terms of public health, it is important to investigate the presence of mycotoxins in foods, which can cause acute and chronic diseases such as immunosuppression, genotoxic, estrogenic, teratogenic effect, cancer, and liver and kidney dysfunctions. Grain-based foods are often contaminated with a large number of mycotoxins, but legal regulations have not been prepared that consider the health risks associated with the co-existence of mycotoxins. Many of the studies have focused on the presence of a single mycotoxin and the risks it poses. As a result, aflatoxin B1 levels in 28.57% of the samples and total aflatoxin (B1 + B2 + G1 + G2) levels in 26.43% of the samples were determined to exceed the limits defined in the "Turkish Food Codex Contaminants Regulation". Citrinin could not be detected in any of the samples. The rate of mycotoxin occurrences above the limit of detection (LOD) in grain-based food samples ranged from 22.86% to 99.29%. Total aflatoxin (TAF) + Total Fumonisin (FUM) were found in 83.57% of the samples; TAF + FUM + OTA in 82.14%; TAF + FUM + OTA + T-2 in 44.29%; TAF + FUM + OTA + DON + HT-2, TAF + FUM + OTA + DON + T-2, and TAF + FUM + OTA + DON + ZEN in 22.86% of the samples.

Aflatoxins degradation and quality evaluation in naturally contaminated rice by dielectric barrier discharge cold plasma

In this study, dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) cold plasma was explored for degrading aflatoxins in naturally contaminated rice. Rice samples were inoculated with strains of toxigenic Aspergillus and incubated to produce various levels of aflatoxins. Cold plasma showed degradation rates of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and total aflatoxins (AFs) that were related to moisture content, oxygen content, treatment time and voltage. Generally, the treatment reduced 1.08%–55.34% of AFB1 and 4.23%–56.37% of AFs in rice under different conditions. Relative lower degradation rates can be due to low permeability of the plasma and interference from food matrix. In addition, no significant difference (P > 0.05) was found in moisture, protein, amylose and color of rice before and after treatment. However, cold plasma aggravated the fat oxidation of rice, and made its surface smoother and more porous. The results provided a theoretical basis for aflatoxins degradation from grain system using cold plasma. Industry relevanceIn this study, dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) cold plasma was applied in the degradation of aflatoxins in naturally contaminated rice, having obvious degradation effect and little quality impact. Cold plasma treatment, as a novel non-thermal processing technology, can reduce mycotoxins in food in order to fully ensure the product safety in various links, including production, storage and so on. Compared with other detoxification methods currently used in the industry, this technology can achieve similar or higher degradation effect in a shorter time. In addition, it is low-cost and will not pollute the environment or damage the sensory properties and nutritional value of products.

Fungal contamination and mycotoxins in aquafeed and tissues of aquaculture fishes and their biological control

The presence of mycotoxins in food and feed is a significant issue, especially in fish farming where it can negatively impact farmed fish species. In this study, samples of aquaculture feed and fishes tissues were collected for fungal isolation and mycotoxins analysis. Levels of aflatoxins (AFs) and ochratoxin A (OTA) in the muscles and organ (liver and kidneys) were compared in three fish species. Furthermore, the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from a novel Bacillus cereus BC344–2 strain were tested against the growth and mycotoxin production of Penicillium spp., Aspergillus spp., and Fusarium species. There was a moderate fungal load in the aquafeed with 1.30 × 102 ± 2.6 × 102 (mean ± SD) CFU/g with high contribution of Aspergillus and Penicillium fungi. OTA and AFs were detected in 95% and 66.7% of the tested aquafeed samples, respectively, with 66.7% of the samples co-contaminated with both mycotoxins. Although AFs contents were within permissible limits, 4.8% of samples showed OTA contamination exceeding the permissible limits (5 μg/kg). Both mycotoxins were found in the liver samples, but none of the fish meat (muscle) samples were found to be contaminated with OTA. The in vitro biocontrol co-incubation assay showed that BC344–2 VOCs had a significant inhibitory effect on the growth and sporulation of the three exposed fungi. P. verrucosum showed the highest sensitivity with a 42.4% inhibition ratio, followed by F. solani (17.5%) and A. flavus (11.5%). Additionally, BC344–2 VOCs suppressed OTA and AFs synthesis by P. verrucosum and A. flavus, respectively. Gas chromatography-based analysis of headspace volatiles in BC344–2 volatilome revealed five bioactive compounds with BTH aldehyde and 1-Heptadecanol being the most probable antifungal compounds responsible for the inhibitions. Given the high detection rate of OTA and AFs in the fish tissue and feed samples, along with regular monitoring of mycotoxins, the biocontrol approaches using bacterial volatiles such as BC344–2 VOCs could be useful to ensure feed and food safety.

The simultaneous influence of ultraviolet rays and cold plasma on the physicochemical attributes and shelf life of dried pistachios during the storage period

AbstractThis investigation aimed to assess the simultaneous impact of ultraviolet (UV) and cold plasma (CP) on the quality and microbial attributes of dried pistachios during the storage period. Currently, novel nonthermal technologies exhibit high potential as a low‐cost, efficient, additive‐free, and nonpolluting strategies for fungi deactivation and mycotoxins degradation in foods. Over recent years, the combination of CP with other procedures, such as ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, ultrasound, ozone, and so forth, has been proposed and attracted lots of attention. For this purpose, in this study, the simultaneous effects of ultraviolet rays and cold plasma on dried pistachios artificially contaminated with aflatoxigenic fungi were assessed. The physicochemical attributes and surface morphology of pistachios were evaluated as well. The concentration of aflatoxin produced was investigated via high‐performance liquid chromatography. Artificially contaminated pistachios were treated with cold plasma at 80 W constant power level at both 10 and 15 min. Following the plasma treatment, pistachio samples were treated by ultraviolet rays at 354 nm wavelength and current intensity in 0.25 A at the same time. The results of this study revealed the fungal deactivation rate achieved by UV‐CP treatment was greater than the sum of the deactivation rates of distinct UV and CP treatments, as maximum reduction of Aspergillus oryzae count (3.7 CFU/g) observed after simultaneous UV‐CP treatment for 15 min (p < 0.05). Moreover, no substantial modifications were detected in the investigation of pH and DPPH radical scavenging activity of samples treated with UV‐CP (p > 0.05). The results of this study confirm the effectiveness of the simultaneous application of UV rays and CP in nuts to maintain quality and increase useful life, along with an alternative method for thermal treatments.Practical applicationsUsually, nonthermal procedures lead to their destruction by changing the chemical structure of mycotoxins. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation being a nonthermal technology, the benefits of its usage are various: the least loss of nutrients and sensorial quality of foods, no toxic residues, and low energy consumption compared with other thermal treatments normally applied for food decontamination. The latter is the main purpose of this technique due to its effectiveness in the inactivation of pathogenic microorganisms and spoilage. Besides this, Cold plasma (CP) technology has been displayed to overcome many of the insufficiency of regular decontamination strategies in the food industry, with slight damage to the quality of products and high efficiency. Although several physical procedures have shown acceptable results in the decontamination of fungi and degradation of mycotoxins in many foods, to date there are few published works on the effects of simultaneous application of UV radiation and CP on foods, particularly pistachios in is available. Hence, the intention of this investigation was to assess the effect of combination of UV radiation and CP on the physicochemical attributes and shelf life of dried pistachios during the storage period.

Target‐mediated suppression of rolling circle amplification for label‐free detection of aflatoxin B1

AbstractBackgroundAflatoxin B1 (AFB1) has been considered as a prevailing natural carcinogenic mycotoxin in various food and feedstuff products, posing serious endangers to human health. The quantitative and selective detection of AFB1 was significantly essential for food safety control.ResultsWe developed a label‐free fluorescent aptasensor using a target‐binding aptamer probe as the rolling circle amplification (RCA) primer for AFB1 detection. In the presence of AFB1, the probe preferentially combined with AFB1 rather than binding to the circular template, inhibiting the initiation of RCA process. The detection limit of the proposed method was as low as 6.6 nM, and the linear dynamic response range was four orders of magnitude wide. Besides, it revealed excellent specificity for AFB1 and high‐quality detection performance in food samples.ConclusionThe presented detection method was simple, rapid, and economical, which indicated a promising application in food safety monitoring.

Aptamers for mycotoxin recognition in food: Recent advances and future considerations

The contamination of mycotoxin in food has posed a serious threat to human health and safety. Accurate detection of mycotoxins provides a strong guarantee for food safety. Aptamers with excellent recognition capacity to mycotoxins have gained growing attention because of their high binding affinity, high specificity and low cost. They are commonly generated by an in vitro selection procedure called SELEX. However, the existing performance of mycotoxin aptamers are not good enough in complex food matrix, and the success rate of SELEX still need to be improved. The employment of efficient SELEX strategies for the generation of better mycotoxin aptamers is significantly important. This article has reviewed different SELEX approaches conducted for mycotoxin aptamer generation. Furthermore, the properties of various mycotoxin aptamers have been discussed. Finally, challenges and future considerations for mycotoxin aptamer selection are summarized, and their strengths and limitations in food safety application are highlighted.

Study on the effectiveness of a multi-toxin immunoaffinity clean-up for reliable cost-effective HPLC-FLD analysis of mycotoxins in corn-based foods

A different, reliable, and cost-effective strategy for the analysis of aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, and zearalenone in corn-based foods was proposed, including one multi-toxin immunoaffinity column (IAC) sample preparation and three different high-performance liquid chromatography fluorescence detection methods. The analytical procedures were tested and verified, keeping in mind their occurrence at trace levels in corn-based foods. With the validation of the proposed multi-toxin IAC methodology and comparison of the performance characteristics with methods using a single-toxin IAC, we confirmed the reliability of the multi-toxin IAC procedure versus the single-toxin IAC. The methods were validated by revealing satisfactory performance characteristics; for example, the obtained values of limit of detection were significantly lower than the maximum limits for all mycotoxins of concern. In addition, the recovery values were between 70.9 % and 106.1 % for all mycotoxins of interest, with precision values lower than 10.5 %.

Survey of knowledge, and attitudes to storage practices preempting the occurrence of filamentous fungi and mycotoxins in some Ghanaian staple foods and processed products

Mycotoxigenic fungi can infect and produce potent mycotoxins in foodstuffs prior to harvest, during harvest (field fungi), and in storage after harvest (storage fungi), which when ingested, can result in adverse health effects. This study was aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitudes, and practices adopted by the Ghanaian populace to help mitigate the occurrence of molds and mycotoxins in foods. A cross-sectional survey involving a structured questionnaire was conducted with 642 respondents from twelve regions of Ghana. Descriptive statistics and analyses of variance were calculated. Correct Classification Rate (CCR) was measured to assess the utility of a logistic regression model. The results of the study showed that the majority of 299 (46.6%) of the respondents were between the ages of 18–25. Age and educational level were related to knowledge about the occurrence of fungi and mycotoxins in foods (p < 0.05). More than half the respondents, 50% indicated that they knew of aflatoxins as a major mycotoxin present in food. Higher education directly influenced on the knowledge of mycotoxicosis and the management of stored food to present intoxication by fungal metabolites. 502 (32.9%) knew that consuming foods with toxins could cause stomach aches. The most commonly consumed food commodity despite the presence of visible growth of fungi was bread (35.3%). The average KAP score for knowledge showed that, out of 100%, there was adequate knowledge (63.8%) among the members of the Ghanaian populace. Favorable environmental conditions of high humidity (> 85% ERH) and temperature (> 28–32 °C) enhance the proliferation of fungi in most foods and the attendant production of mycotoxins such as aflatoxins, ochratoxins, and fumonisins are associated with several severe human and animal health conditions; mycotoxicosis was associated with high fever, pain, vomiting, suppression of immunity, cancer, etc. when these foods are consumed on regular basis for a prolonged length of time. Future examination of the food items used for the School Feeding Programme in Ghana will offer opportunities to examine the risks of feeding youth with fungal-contaminated food preparations from providers.

NADES-assisted sample preparation as a greener alternative for mycotoxins determination in apple-based products

While impressive advancements have been reported in mycotoxin analysis over the last decade, very little has been done to realign the sample treatment to the green sample preparation principles, which are arising more and more relevance in the current analytical chemistry. In this regard, this work proposes the first NADES-assisted sample preparation for the extraction of mycotoxins in food samples.Two protocols using dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) and DLLME with solidification of floating organic drop (DLLME-SFO) assisted with a natural deep eutectic solvent (NADES) were developed and assessed as green sample preparation procedures to extract mycotoxins from apple-based products prior to HPLC-MS/MS analysis. The selected mycotoxins were alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether, tentoxin and ochratoxin A, which are known to occur in these food matrices. The main variables affecting the extraction efficiency, such as volume of dispersive and extraction solvents, as well as the salting-out effect were evaluated and optimized using a central composite design. In addition, both methodologies were examined and compared in terms of greenness using the newly released metric tool AGREEprep. Due to the use of NADES, the DLLME-SFO method achieved a higher greenness score, and it was selected for further characterization. Matrix-matched calibration curves were used, showing a satisfactory linearity (R2 > 0.99). Limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) were below 0.25 and 0.8 µg kg−1, respectively. Recoveries were above 72 % for all the mycotoxins studied in both apple juice and apple puree samples. The validated DLLME-SFO-HPLC-MS/MS method was applied to the analysis of commercial apple juice and puree samples. All the samples analysed were contaminated with at least one mycotoxin with a total concentration ranging from 0.4 to 10.5 µg kg−1.

Microfluidic Biosensor Integrated with Signal Transduction and Enhancement Mechanism for Ultrasensitive Noncompetitive Assay of Multiple Mycotoxins

To achieve high-throughput ultrasensitive detection of mycotoxins in food, a functional DNA-guided transition-state CRISPR/Cas12a microfluidic biosensor (named FTMB) was successfully constructed. The signal transduction CRISPR/Cas12a strategy in FTMB has utilized DNA sequences with a specific recognition function and activators to form trigger switches. Meanwhile, the transition-state CRISPR/Cas12a system was constructed by adjusting the composition ratio of crRNA and activator to achieve a high response for low concentrations of target mycotoxins. On the other hand, the signal enhancement of FTMB has efficiently integrated the signal output of quantum dots (QDs) with the fluorescence enhancement effect of photonic crystals (PCs). The construction of universal QDs for the CRISPR/Cas12a system and PC films matching the photonic bandgap produced a significant signal enhancement by a factor of 45.6. Overall, FTMB exhibited a wide analytic range (10-5-101 ng·mL-1), low detection of limit (fg·mL-1), short detection period (∼40 min), high specificity, good precision (coefficients of variation <5%), and satisfactory practical sample analysis capacity (the consistency with HPLC at 88.76%-109.99%). It would provide a new and reliable solution for the rapid detection of multiple small molecules in the fields of clinical diagnosis and food safety.

Improvement of catalytic activity of sorbose dehydrogenase for deoxynivalenol degradation by rational design

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is the most frequently contaminated mycotoxin in food and feed worldwide, causing significant economic losses and health risks. Physical and chemical detoxification methods are widely used, but they cannot efficiently and specifically remove DON. In the study, the combination of bioinformatics screening and experimental verification confirmed that sorbose dehydrogenase (SDH) can effectively convert DON to 3-keto-DON and a substance that removes four hydrogen atoms for DON. Through rational design, the Vmax of the mutants F103L and F103A were increased by 5 and 23 times, respectively. Furthermore, we identified catalytic sites W218 and D281. SDH and its mutants have broad application conditions, including temperature ranges of 10–45 °C and pH levels of 4–9. Additionally, the half-lives of F103A at 90 °C (processing temperature) and 30 °C (storage temperature) were 60.1 min and 100.5 d, respectively. These results suggest that F103A has significant potential in the detoxification application of DON.

A Novel Multicellular Placental Barrier Model to Investigate the Effect of Maternal Aflatoxin B1 Exposure on Fetal-Side Neural Stem Cells.

Ingestion of food toxins such as aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) during pregnancy may impair fetal neurodevelopment. However, animal model results may not be accurate due to the species' differences, and testing on humans is ethically impermissible. Here, we developed an in vitro human maternal-fetal multicellular model composed of a human hepatic compartment, a bilayer placental barrier, and a human fetal central nervous system compartment using neural stem cells (NSCs) to investigate the effect of AFB1 on fetal-side NSCs. AFB1 passed through the HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells to mimic the maternal metabolic effects. Importantly, even at the limited concentration (0.0641 ± 0.0046 μM) of AFB1, close to the national safety level standard of China (GB-2761-2011), the mixture of AFB1 crossing the placental barrier induced NSC apoptosis. The level of reactive oxygen species in NSCs was significantly elevated and the cell membrane was damaged, causing the release of intracellular lactate dehydrogenase (p < 0.05). The comet experiment and γ-H2AX immunofluorescence assay showed that AFB1 caused significant DNA damage to NSCs (p < 0.05). This study provided a new model for the toxicological evaluation of the effect of food mycotoxin exposure during pregnancy on fetal neurodevelopment.

Development of anti-aflatoxin B1 nanobodies from a novel mutagenesis-derived synthetic library for traditional Chinese medicine and foods safety testing

BackgroundThe main commercially available methods for detecting small molecules of mycotoxins in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and functional foods are enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and mass spectrometry. Regarding the development of diagnostic antibody reagents, effective methods for the rapid preparation of specific monoclonal antibodies are inadequate.MethodsIn this study, a novel synthetic phage-displayed nanobody Golden Glove (SynaGG) library with a glove-like cavity configuration was established using phage display technology in synthetic biology. We applied this unique SynaGG library on the small molecule aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), which has strong hepatotoxicity, to isolate specific nanobodies with high affinity for AFB1.ResultThese nanobodies exhibit no cross-reactivity with the hapten methotrexate, which is recognized by the original antibody template. By binding to AFB1, two nanobodies can neutralize AFB1-induced hepatocyte growth inhibition. Using molecular docking, we found that the unique non-hypervariable complementarity-determining region 4 (CDR4) loop region of the nanobody was involved in the interaction with AFB1. Specifically, the CDR4’s positively charged amino acid arginine directed the binding interaction between the nanobody and AFB1. We then rationally optimized the interaction between AFB1 and the nanobody by mutating serine at position 2 into valine. The binding affinity of the nanobody to AFB1 was effectively improved, and this result supported the use of molecular structure simulation for antibody optimization.ConclusionIn summary, this study revealed that the novel SynaGG library, which was constructed through computer-aided design, can be used to isolate nanobodies that specifically bind to small molecules. The results of this study could facilitate the development of nanobody materials to detect small molecules for the rapid screening of TCM materials and foods in the future.

Occurrence and Dietary Risk Assessment of Mycotoxins in Most Consumed Foods in Cameroon: Exploring Current Data to Understand Futures Challenges.

Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxins that contaminate different crops and foodstuffs under certain circumstances during harvesting, handling, storage, and processing. Neither the dietary intake of mycotoxins in Cameroon is well characterized, nor its health effects on the consumers. This review is intended to be the first milestone towards national risk management of mycotoxins. It is noteworthy that mycotoxins contaminate the main staple foods of Cameroonian communities, which are also often used as complementary foods for infants, young children, and people with compromised immune systems (e.g., HIV/AIDS), thus calling for urgent intervention in primary and secondary prevention. Very few data exist on mycotoxin contamination in Cameroonian agricultural commodities and food items. Only 25 studies from 14 different authors have been published in the last decade. On the basis of available data in Cameroon, the Estimated Daily Intake (EDI) of major mycotoxins in foods for Aflatoxins was 0.0018-14.2 µg/kgbw/day in maize, 0.027-2.36 µg/kgbw/day in cassava, and 0.023-0.1 µg/kgbw/day in groundnuts. The estimated daily intake of fumonisins was 0.12-60.6 µg/kgbw/day in maize and 0.056-0.82 µg/kgbw/day in beans. Based on the estimated distribution of human exposure levels by food, maize and cassava are the major sources of exposure and should be prioritized, followed by beans and spices. This estimate will be updated along with improvements on the national database on mycotoxin contamination of Cameroonian foods.

Effects of liquid smoke preparations on shelf life and growth of wild type mold and Aspergillus flavus in a model semi moist pet food.

Liquid smoke is a naturally derived flavor component and preservative with known antimicrobial properties. To our knowledge, there is a paucity of information on antifungal potential of liquid smoke against toxigenic fungi like Aspergillus flavus that produce mycotoxins in human and pet foods. Semi-moist pet food with high moisture content (20-30%) is susceptible to mold contamination and requires intervention. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of liquid smoke preparations on the growth of wild-type mold and A. flavus in semi-moist pet food. Semi-moist pet food was formulated with eight different liquid smoke preparations (S1-S8) containing varying amounts of organic acids, phenol and carbonyl compounds (ranging from low to high) at 0% (untreated), 0.5, 1, 2, and 4% (w/w). A positive control consisted of 0.2% potassium sorbate known to inhibit mold growth. Shelf life was estimated by storing the samples at 28°C and 65-70% RH over 30 days and recording the number of days until the appearance of visible wild-type mold. In another experiment, samples were spot inoculated with A. flavus (∼10,000 CFU/mL), incubated at 25°C, and analyzed for fungal growth at sampling intervals of 2 days over a 35-day period. Liquid smoke at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4% extended the shelf life of samples on an average by a total of 11.6, 12.5, 17.2, and 24.1 days when compared to the untreated samples (7.7 days). The smoke preparations Cloud S-C100 (S3) and Code-10 (S6) (high carbonyl, medium/low phenol) were the most effective (P < 0.05) in prolonging the number of days to visible mold growth (26-28 days). In the challenge study with A. flavus, Cloud S-C100 (S3), Cloud S-AC15 (S8) (high to medium carbonyl, low phenol), and Code 10 (S6) (base smoke) reduced (P < 0.05) mold counts by 1.0, 1.7, and 2.5 logs when compared to the untreated samples at 1, 2, and 4%, respectively. Addition of smoke at 0.5% did not reduce mold counts. The carbonyl preparations of liquid smoke were the most effective at enhancing shelf life of semi-moist pet food, and at inhibiting A. flavus growth.

Left-censored data and where to find them: Current implications in mycotoxin-related risk assessment, legislative and economic impacts

BackgroundOne of the most challenging steps in chemical risk assessment is the dietary exposure due to the high percentage of left-censored data (LCD). Mycotoxins are the group of chemical contaminants known to show the highest percentage of LCD among chemical contaminants. These data are extremely important especially if they are used for the development of new legislations with permitted maximum limits. Scope and approachIn this study, we address the importance of analytical techniques and current methods of dealing with LCD, with the goal of highlighting the effect of LCD on risk assessment, which could have a potential impact on future regulations of mycotoxins in foods and the economic implications of such regulations. Key findings and conclusionsThirteen European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Scientific Opinions and Reports on the risk of mycotoxins to humans were evaluated. The most used analytical method was based on Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS). Most of the occurrence data for mycotoxins in EFSA risk assessments over the last decade were condensed between 80 and 100% LCD. The typical statistical methods to handle LCD, the substitution method and cut-off values approach, frequently lead to the overestimation of the human risk which can ultimately lead to stricter law regulations with economic implication on the agricultural trades. Understanding the obstacles that analysts face and the type of data that risk assessors require will help to close the uncertainties and gaps that currently exist in exposure and risk assessment. Establishing limits of detections (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs) while having a clear data purpose can help reduce uncertainties in risk assessment and provide more meaningful exposure evaluations.