The natural co-occurrence of 42 mycotoxins was investigated in unprocessed oat grains grown in Ireland. The sample set included a total of 208 oat crops harvested during 2015–2016 and produced using conventional, organic, or gluten free farming systems. A range of different toxins was identified, including the major type A (neosolaniol, HT-2 and T-2 toxins, T-2 triol, and T-2-glucoside, co-occurring in 21 samples) and B trichothecenes (deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, and deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside), enniatins (B1, B, and A1, co-occurring in 12 samples), as well as beauvericin, alternariol, mycophenolic acid, and sterigmatocystin. The influences of sowing season, year, and production system were investigated, eventually indicating that the latter factor may have a higher impact than others on the production of certain mycotoxins in oats. The most frequently quantified compounds were HT-2 (51%) and T-2 (41%) toxins, with gluten free oats containing significantly lower concentrations of HT-2 compared to conventionally produced oats. Although the prevalence and concentrations of mycotoxin found in oat samples in this study should be substantially reduced by processing. However, as mycotoxin occurrence is clearly influenced by multiple factors, controlled field trials should be carried out to define optimal agronomic practices and mitigate mycotoxin production. Furthermore, this work highlights the need for regularly testing cereal-based foods with multi-residue analytical methods with wider specificities than the traditionally screened and regulated toxins, to generate knowledge on the occurrence of several mycotoxins that are, to date, rarely investigated.

The aim of this study was to investigate the spread of minimal, field born Fusarium infections in wheat during storage and the resulting impact on grain quality. Therefore, F. culmorum was chosen as the representative strain. Wheat grains were artificially infected and stored for 6 weeks in a model system. To estimate the fungal

A fast, easy, and cheap method for the simultaneous determination and quantification of aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1, G2), T-2 and HT-2 toxins, and fumonisins (B1, B2) in cereal-derived products was developed. This method involved a quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) extraction coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The method validation was performed by analyzing samples spiked at four levels, and the recoveries ranged from 83.6 to 102.9%, whereas the maximum values of repeatability and within-laboratory reproducibility were 14.3 and 15.7% following the performance criteria set by the European legislation. The method was then applied for the analysis of 21 cereal-derived products purchased on the Italian market, which were correctly packaged and labeled as intended for human consumption. The co-occurrence of more than one mycotoxin in the analyzed samples could represent a risk for consumers, and the described method could be a valid alternative for their simultaneous detection in the framework of official control. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.

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