Mycotoxins are toxic compounds, produced by the secondary metabolism of toxigenic moulds in the Aspergillus, Alternaria, Claviceps, Fusarium, Penicillium and Stachybotrys genera occurring in food and feed commodities both pre- and post-harvest. Adverse human health effects from the consumption of mycotoxins have occurred for many centuries. When ingested, mycotoxins may cause a mycotoxicosis which can result in an acute or chronic disease episode. Chronic conditions have a much greater impact, numerically, on human health in general, and induce diverse and powerful toxic effects in test systems: some are carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, estrogenic, hemorrhagic, immunotoxic, nephrotoxic, hepatotoxic, dermotoxic and neurotoxic. Although mycotoxin contamination of agricultural products still occurs in the developed world, the application of modern agricultural practices and the presence of a legislatively regulated food processing and marketing system have greatly reduced mycotoxin exposure in these populations. However, in developing countries, where climatic and crop storage conditions are frequently conducive to fungal growth and mycotoxin production, much of the population relies on subsistence farming or on unregulated local markets. Therefore both producers and governmental control authorities are directing their efforts toward the implementation of a correct and reliable evaluation of the real status of contamination of a lot of food commodity and, consequently, of the impact of mycotoxins on human and animal health.

Background The impact of climate change has been identified as an emerging issue worldwide owing to potential effects that can provoke changes in the nature and occurrence of food safety hazards. Mycotoxins are a group of naturally occurring toxic substances produced by several genera of filamentous fungi, among which, primarily aflatoxins, fumonisins, ochratoxins, trichothecenes and zearalenone are of the greatest concern owing to their negative impact on human health, animal productivity and international trade. Results Extreme weather conditions such as floods and droughts which have not occurred previously in Serbia may be supporting factors for contamination of crops by various species of toxigenic fungi and their related mycotoxins. In this study, principal component analysis (PCA) and multivariate analyses were used as powerful tools allowing better understanding of the range of climate factors impacting on crop contamination by mycotoxins. Among the selected environmental variables, temperature and moisture significantly influenced aflatoxin production. Recent drought and then flooding confirmed that Serbia is one of the few European countries with very high risk exposure to natural hazards, as well as that mycotoxins are one of the foodborne hazards most susceptible to climate change. Thus climate change effects on mycotoxigenic fungi and mycotoxin contamination are now receiving scientific attention, especially from a risk analysis perspective. Conclusion This paper evaluates the available information on the influence of climate change on mycotoxin contamination, especially aflatoxin M1 (AFM1). In addition, this investigation should beneficially contribute to more accurate predictions of the regional risk from mycotoxins in future decades. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry

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Two different analytical methods for the determination and confirmation of ochratoxin A (OTA) in blood serum, kidney, and liver of pigs have been compared. Sample cleanup was based on liquid-liquid phase extraction. The detection of OTA was accomplished with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) combined either with fluorescence detection (FLD) or electrospray ionization (ESI+) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The comparative method of evaluation was based on the investigation of 90 samples of blood serum, kidney, and liver per animal originating from different regions of Serbia. The analytical results are discussed in view of the respective method validation data and the corresponding experimental protocols. In general, analytical data obtained with liquid chromatography (LC)-MS/MS detection offered comparable good results in the sub-ppb concentration level indicating that the electrospray tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method was more selective and sensitive for the analysis and confirmation of OTA in pig tissues than the HPLC method after the methylation of OTA.

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This paper provides a brief review of approaches for the early detection and prevention strategies which have been employed in Serbia for the control of ochratoxogenic fungi and its metabolites in feed in the context of a hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) framework. During a mycological analysis of complete feedmixes intended for fattening swine (n = 18), a total of six genera and 14 species of moulds were identified. Penicillium was present in considerably more samples than any other genus (94.4%), followed by the genera Fusarium (55.5%) and Paecilomyces (44.4%). Other fungi from the genera Aspergillus (22%), Mucor (11.1%) and Alternaria (5.5%) were represented in a smaller amount. Total fungal counts ranged from 10 5 to 40 9 10 5 c.f.u./g. The mycotoxins deoxynivalenol, ochratoxin A and zearalenone were detected, while aflatoxins were not present. Deoxynivalenol was detected in 10 samples in the concentration range 0.25-2.5 mg/kg. Ochratoxin A and zaralenone were detected in nine and eight samples, respectively, in the concentration range 0.057-0.27 and 0.2-5.0 mg/kg, respectively. Isolates identified as Aspergillus and Penicillium species were subjected to molecular characterization for the presence of genes responsible for the synthesis of OTA (polyketide synthase gene-PKS) using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) applied to a set of 18 isolates. The sequences of PCR reaction products in three samples were compared with nucleotide sequences of genes for polyketide synthase (PKS) from Penicillium species and it was found that the samples possessed the PKS sequence. These findings indicate that there may be a risk of animal exposure to mycotoxins through the consumption of mouldy infected feeds.

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Abnormally hard breast fillet consistency began to emerge in commercial broiler chickens around 2010. Due to the remarkable muscle hardness, the condition acquired the vernacular name ‘wooden breast myopathy’. This myopathy starts to develop after two weeks of age at the earliest and typically proceeds into chronic myodegeneration in three to four weeks of age. The lesion begins focally and typically develops into a diffuse lesion that involves the entire major pectoral muscle. The restricted location of wooden breast lesion in the m. pectoralis major distinguishes it from several other myodegenerative diseases that widely affect the skeletal muscle system and often the cardiac and smooth muscle systems too. Although industry-wide incidence rates are difficult to assess, it has been estimated that approximately 5-10% of commercially produced breast fillets exhibit severe WB. Even at low incidence rates, the costs to industry are substantial, as breast fillets with the wooden breast condition are often downgraded and sold at a discount, used for further processing, or in extreme cases, discarded. Because the etiology of wooden breast is still unclear, in the future, study of the early lesions, pathogenesis and the possible reduction of animal welfare are likely to gain more attention.