Mycotoxin concentrations in rice from three climatic locations in Africa as affected by grain quality, production site, and storage duration

Abstract

Information on the mycotoxin contamination of rice in Africa is limited although the risk of contamination is high. In this study, domestic milled rice processed by actors using suboptimal methods was purchased and total fumonisin (FUM), zearalenone, and aflatoxin concentrations determined at 0, 90, and 180 days after storage. Three different climatic locations, Cotonou (Benin) in the Guinea savanna, Yaoundé (Cameroon) in the Tropical forest, and N'diaye (Senegal) in the Sahel, were selected as storage sites. Subsets of the samples collected from Glazoue (Benin), Ndop (Cameroon), and Dagana (Senegal) were stored in plastic woven bags under room conditions in the respective sites with or without calcium oxide (burnt scallop shell—BSS, 0.1% w/w) treatment. Multivariance analysis showed that FUM concentration was positively influenced by the duration of storage only while zearalenone concentration was negatively influenced by relative humidity and head rice but positively by impurities. Zearalenone concentration was also influenced by sample collection/storage location, processing type, and duration of storage. Aflatoxin concentration was influenced negatively by storage room temperature and head rice but positively by impurities and chalky grains. In addition, aflatoxin concentration was influenced by collection/storage location and processing type. BSS treatment followed by storage for 6 months had no effect on the concentration of the three assessed mycotoxins. Strategies to reduce the risk of mycotoxin contamination in study sites will include the improvement of physical rice quality through better pre‐ and postharvest practices and proper packaging of both treated rice and untreated rice in hermetic systems before marketing and storage.

Grain quality evaluation of japonica rice effected by cultivars, environment, and their interactions based on appearance and processing characteristics

“…Environmental factors can lead to changes, during rice growth, in both composition and appearance (Liu et al., 2013; Tang et al., 2019). According to the environment data (Figure 2), the relative humidity in RuDong and XingHua from July to September was close.…”

Toxicological and Medical Aspects of Aspergillus-Derived Mycotoxins Entering the Feed and Food Chain

“…OTA can be found in a variety of agricultural products, especially in cereals, grapes, and related products (Streit et al, 2012;Tsitsigiannis et al, 2012). This mycotoxin occurs naturally and is widespread around the world, but mainly in the Mediterranean Basin, including Italy, Spain, and Greece (Covarelli et al, 2012;Somma et al, 2012;Perrone et al, 2013;Arroyo-Manzanares et al, 2019), and furthermore, in several African countries like Cameroon, Senegal, Benin, and Nigeria (Rodrigues et al, 2011;Tang et al, 2019). OTA can also be considered as a potentially emerging mycotoxin in Central Europe due to the climate change (Tóth et al, 2013;Pleadin et al, 2017;Udovicki et al, 2018).…”

Contamination of freshly harvested Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) seed from Mpumalanga, South Africa, with mycotoxigenic fungi

“…For example, P. citrinum is known to produce the mycotoxin citrinin (Schmidt‐Heydt, Stoll, & Gelsen, 2019). Even though the incidence of mycotoxin producing fungi is low, their presence is a cause for concern as they can proliferate and increase during storage, especially if storage conditions are not controlled (Tang et al, 2018). Alternatively, environmental conditions may just not have been conducive for mycotoxin production.…”