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A b s t r a c tA toxicity of plants eaten by animals at grazing land is shown to be complicated with various causes and clinical manifestations. In addition to phytotoxins and «infection» factors carried onto the plants by the insects (e.g., bacterial corynetoxins), the toxic metabolites of endophytic and epiphytic fungi are considered to play the significant role. Based on early understanding, the local risks for cattle, sheep and horses during grazing and stable periods were caused mainly by ergotism, myrothecio-and fusariotoxicoses. Then, for a long time a mycotoxicological evaluation of local grass feeds was not carried out. To date, there is the only one study indicating differences between contaminations of the wild-growing gramineous plants and cultivated cereal crops (A.A. Burkin et al., 2010). The aim of the paper was to summarize our data of assaing 517 meadow grass samples from natural pastures and haying places in European Russia undertaken for the first time to determine contamination with mycotoxins. The spikes of fescue Festuca sp., couch grass Elytrigia repens (L.), timothy Phleum sp., and other locally occurring gramineous plants were selected in North Karelia, Tverskaya, Leningradskaya and Astrakhanskaya regions for July-October 2011. For summer and autumn 2014 collections the aboveground parts of gramineous plants and legumes were taken from Moskovskaya, Tverskaya, Astrakhanskaya regions and North Karelia. The average samples of the field sets of hay were obtained from the animal farms of Moskovskaya region from December 2013 up to April 2014. A multiple combined contamination of grassland gramineous plants and legumes by the mycotoxins was detected, particularly we have found the Fusarium fungi metabolites T-2 toxin (T-2), diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS), deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEN), fumonisins (FUM), the Alternaria metabolite alternariol (AOL), the Myrothecium metabolite roridin A (RoA), the «storage fungi» metabolites aflatoxin B 1 (AB 1 ), sterigmatocystin (STE), cyclopiazonic acid (CPA), emodin (EMO), ochratoxin A (OA), citrinin (CIT), mycophenolic acid (MPA), PR-toxin (PR), and also the ergot alkaloids (EA). The common trend to changing the component composition and content of mycotoxins was revealed for collected samples of gramineous plants from Moskovskaya and Tverskaya regions (June-September) such as reed grass Calamagrostis sp., crested dog's tail Cynosurus cristatus L., sweet vernal grass Anthoxanthum odoratum L., cock's foot Dactylis glomerata L., bromegrass Bromus sp., bluegrass Poa sp., oats Avena sativa L., fescue Festuca sp., bentgrass Agrostis sp., couch grass Elytrigia repens (L.), timothy Phleum sp., bristly foxtail grass Setaria sp. The complex of all examined mycotoxins was found to be formed in plants during early growing period (June). Moreover, AOL, STE, CPA and EMO were detected almost in all locations (80-98 % of samples), whereas DAS, EA, AB 1 , OA, STE and MPA occurred rarely (50-70 %). This period, in contrast to subsequent ones, was characterized by low le...

The quality of grass samples used for animal feed by combining mycotoxin measures and mycological determination of mycobiota were explored. The samples of the plant material were collected in 2014 in two stages: before the first mowing (May–June) and before the second one (July–August) from the fields of stock-farms located in northwestern part of the Russia. All samples were divided into three types: grasses, mixture of different grasses and clover, alfalfa mixed with timothy. The occurrence of aflatoxin B1, alternariol, citrinin, cyclopiazonic acid, deoxynivalenol, diacetoxyscirpenol, emodin, ergot alkaloids, fumonisins, mycophenolic acid, ochratoxin A, PR-toxin, roridin A, sterigmatocystin, T-2 toxin, and zearalenone were determined using ELISA. The multiple fungal and mycotoxin contaminations are already formed in plant tissues by the moment of first mowing. The complexes of mycotoxins including up to 14–16 components and the combined character of plant contamination quite correspond to the taxonomic variety of mycobiota.

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More than 1700 samples of forage grain, sunflower and soy-bean oil-seed meal and cakes, gluten, and compounded feeds were analyzed for citrinin by indirect ELISA with a minimum detectable level of 10 ppb. Out of 829 compounded feeds (rations and concentrates) 8.8 per cent samples were positive and the amount of citrinin ranged between 12 and 182 ppb. Only 4.5% of wheat and 3.6% of barley contained citrinin at 50-998 ppb. 1.9% of maize grain samples were positive at levels of 218-953 ppb. Among the other ingredients the highest incidence (28.9%) at the levels of 14-397 ppb was found for sunflower oil-seed meal and cakes. Three positive cases of 148 processed soy-bean samples contained citrinin in a range of 14-30 ppb.