Occurrence of Free and Conjugated Mycotoxins in Aromatic and Medicinal Plants and Dietary Exposure Assessment in the Moroccan Population

Abstract

Aromatic and medicinal plants (AMPs), as herbal material, are subjected to contamination by various mycotoxin-producing fungi, either free and conjugated. Such a problem is associated with poor storage practices, and lack of adopting good agricultural practices and good harvesting practices. Nevertheless, AMPs are poorly investigated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the co-occurrence of 15 mycotoxins (four aflatoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, and AFG2), ochratoxin A (OTA), beauvericin (BEA), four enniatins (ENA, ENA1, ENB, and ENB1), zearalenone (ZEN), alternariol (AOH), tentoxin (TENT), T-2, and HT-2 toxins) in 40 samples of AMPs frequently consumed in Morocco by using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Evaluation of conjugated mycotoxins and their identification using liquid chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry with ion mass exact was also carried out. Results showed that 90% of the analyzed samples presented at least one mycotoxin, and 52% presented co-occurrence of them. Mycotoxins detected were: AOH (85%), ZEN (27.5%), β-ZEL (22%), AFG1 (17.5%), TENT (17.5%), ENB (10%), AFG2 (7.5%), α-ZEL (5%), ENA1 (2.5%), and HT-2 (2.5%), while the conjugated mycotoxins were ZEN-14-Glc (11%) and ZEN-14-Sulf (9%). The highest observed level was for AOH, with 309 ng/g. Ten samples exceeded the recommended levels set by the European Pharmacopoeia for AF mycotoxins in plant material (4 ng/g), and three samples exceeded the maximum limits for AFs (10 ng/g) in species established by the European Commission. Although the co-occurrence of several mycotoxins in AMP samples was observed, the dietary exposure assessment showed that the intake of mycotoxins through the consumption of AMP beverages does not represent a risk for the population.

Occurrence and Health Risk Assessment of Aflatoxins through Intake of Eastern Herbal Medicines Collected from Four Districts of Southern Punjab—Pakistan

“…However, no inference in the study was made to the risk associated with the ingestion of the raw medicinal plants. Similar results were reported on Moroccan aromatic and medicinal plants, whose infusions were shown not to pose an appreciable health risk owing to a low exposure, in spite of the fact that the concentrations of total AFs in some raw plant material exceed the regulatory standards of 4 ng/g or 10 ng/g [73]. It is worth mentioning that AFB 1 , the most toxic aflatoxin, whose carcinogenicity for humans is well established, was not detected in any of the samples analyzed in the latter study.…”

Toxicodynamic of combined mycotoxins: MicroRNAs and acute‐phase proteins as diagnostic biomarkers

“…A survey conducted between 2008 and 2017, which analyzed 74,821 feed and feed raw material samples from 100 countries worldwide, yielded interesting findings. The results indicated that the highest detection rates for ZEA and DON in finished feed and wheat samples were 48% and 28%, respectively, whereas DON had the second‐highest detection rate at 39% (El Jai et al., 2021). Notably, ZEA and DON were identified as the two most frequently co‐contaminated mycotoxins in feed samples from the Czech Republic during 2013–2017 and in winter rye samples from Poland during 2017–2018, with co‐detection rates of 56.63% and 83.3%, respectively (Svoboda et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2021).…”

Toxicity of zearalenone and its nutritional intervention by natural products

“…4 In addition, it has been found in medicinal plants, including Curcuma longa and Acorus calamus , and other plants with crucial medicinal value. 5 ZEN poses a particular hazard in these plants when they are ingested as dietary supplements.…”