Fate of moniliformin during milling of Canadian durum wheat, processing, and cooking of spaghetti

Abstract

Tittlemier, S. A., Roscoe, M., Trelka, R., Patrick, S. K., Bamforth, J. M., Gräfenhan, T., Schlichting, L. and Fu, B. X. 2014. Fate of moniliformin during milling of Canadian durum wheat, processing, and cooking of spaghetti. Can. J. Plant Sci. 94: 555–563. Samples of clean Canadian durum were fortified with kernels damaged by Fusarium avenaceum at levels corresponding to the grading tolerances for Fusarium damaged kernels in Canadian durum wheat. Fusarium avenaceum produces the mycotoxin moniliformin (MON); the fortified durum samples contained MON ranging from 0.16 to 0.90 mg kg−1. The fate of MON was followed during milling of the fortified durum samples, as well as during the preparation and cooking of spaghetti made with the fortified durum. The majority of MON was associated with semolina, implying that removal of bran would not have a large impact on reducing MON concentrations. However, F. avenaceum DNA was more evenly distributed amongst the milling products, suggesting that MON underwent translocation from mycelium to endosperm in the damaged kernels. There was an apparent loss of MON when spaghetti was prepared from semolina. From an overall dietary exposure point of view, the cooking of MON-containing pasta in water will reduce dietary exposure to the water-soluble MON via leaching to the cooking water. However, the lack of quantifiable MON in samples prepared from higher grade Canada Western Amber Durum (which contained lower amounts of Fusarium damaged kernels) suggests that dietary exposure to MON from contaminated pasta is not likely to occur.

The Fate of Mycotoxins During the Processing of Wheat for Human Consumption

“…Although MON strongly accumulated in durum wheat grains damaged by F. avenaceum , different from most other mycotoxins, no correlation was found between the presence of that fungu s in grain milling fractions and the MON concentration (Tittlemier et al., ). Interestingly, MON was primarily located in the endosperm, and more or less no reduction of MON levels was found for white flour compared to the whole grain, whereas the level clearly decreased in bran and shorts.…”

“…Interestingly, MON was primarily located in the endosperm, and more or less no reduction of MON levels was found for white flour compared to the whole grain, whereas the level clearly decreased in bran and shorts. In contrast to the toxin, the fungal DNA was more evenly distributed throughout the different milling fractions (Tittlemier et al., ). The MON distribution pattern, which diverges from that of other Fusarium toxins like DON, is probably caused by MON translocation.…”

“…MON is described as small, highly water‐soluble molecule (for an overview, see Jestoi, ). Thus, it was suggested to predominantly migrate into compartments of the grain with higher moisture content (the endosperm) before drying (Tittlemier et al., ).…”

“…BEA is structurally similar to enniatins and these emerging mycotoxins often co‐occur, since they are probably produced by the same Fusarium species (Liuzzi et al., ; Luz, Saladino, Luciano, Mañes, & Meca, ). MON is as well an emerging mycotoxin and was, for example, found to strongly accumulate in Fusarium‐ damaged durum wheat grains due to F. avenaceum infection (Tittlemier et al., ). Recently, it was shown that MON can be also produced by a Penicillium species in wheat (Hallas‐Møller, Nielsen, & Frisvad, ).…”

Strategies for estimating human exposure to mycotoxins via food

“…The types and levels of mycotoxins in food can therefore vary considerably. Industrial processes and household preparation processes, such as cleaning or peeling, may furthermore alter the profile and the levels of mycotoxins in consumed food Meca et al, 2013;Tittlemier et al, 2014;Vidal et al, 2014).…”