Natural occurrence of Alternaria mycotoxins in wheat and potential of reducing associated risks using magnolol

Abstract

BACKGROUND Wheat is one of three major food crops in China. Alternaria species can cause spoilage of wheat with consequent mycotoxin accumulation. Alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), and tenuazonic acid (TeA) are the most common and frequently studied mycotoxins. There are limited regulations placed on Alternaria mycotoxin concentrations worldwide due to the lack of toxicity data available. More data on the levels of mycotoxin contamination are also needed. It is also important to reduce the risks of Alternaria mycotoxins. RESULTS One hundred and thirty‐two wheat samples were collected from Hebei Province, China, and analyzed for AOH, AME, and TeA. Tenuazonic acid was found to be the predominant Alternaria mycotoxin, especially in flour samples. Studying Alternaria species that cause black‐point disease of wheat indicated that Alternaria alternata and Alternaria tenuissima were the dominant species. Most of the Alternaria strains studied produced more than one mycotoxin and TeA was produced at the highest concentration, which may have resulted in the high level of TeA contamination in the wheat samples. Furthermore, magnolol displayed obvious antifungal and antimycotoxigenic activity against Alternaria. This is the first report on the antimycotoxigenic activity of magnolol against Alternaria species. CONCLUSION The Alternaria mycotoxin contamination levels in wheat and wheat products from Hebei Province, China, were correlated with the toxigenic capacity of the Alternaria strains colonizing the wheat. Considering its safety, magnolol could be developed as a natural fungicide in wheat, or as a natural alternative food preservative based on its strong antifungal and antimycotoxigenic activity against Alternaria strains. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry

Natural Occurrence of Alternaria Fungi and Associated Mycotoxins in Small-Grain Cereals from The Urals and West Siberia Regions of Russia

“…However, our study demonstrated the significant abundance of A. sect. Infectoriae fungi in grain in the Urals and West Siberia regions, which is consistent with the recent results of a mycological analysis of grain grown in these regions [34].…”

“…Recently, the predominance of Alternaria mycotoxins (mainly TEN) in grain samples from the Urals and Siberia region of Russia has also been shown [14,36]. In our study, TeA and TEN were found more often than AOH and AME in the grain samples from both regions, which corresponds to previous reports indicating these Alternaria mycotoxins are the most common in grain grown in Asia [22,34].…”

“…The prevalence of A. sect. Alternaria fungi was also noted in grain from Hebei Province in China [34]. These fungi are widespread in wheat and barley grains in Asia and produce the main Alternaria mycotoxins, such as AOH, AME, and TeA [34,48].…”

“…Alternaria spp. are abundantly present in the grain mycobiota in the Urals and West Siberia regions of Russia [14,38] and neighbouring territories such as Kazakhstan [39] and China [34]. Until recently, A. sect.…”

“…strains may differ significantly and depends greatly on environmental conditions [30,31]. The Alternaria species belonging to various Alternaria sections differ significantly in their toxin-producing ability [30,[32][33][34] and pose different risks when contaminating food.…”