Occurrence ofFusariumT-2 and HT-2 toxins in oats from cultivar studies in Germany and degradation of the toxins during grain cleaning treatment and food processing

Abstract

For the Fusarium trichothecene mycotoxins T-2 and HT-2, a combined (T-2 + HT-2) temporary tolerable daily intake (tTDI) of 0.06 microg kg(-1) body weight day(-1) was proposed at the European level in 2001 (Opinion of the Scientific Committee on Food). In the near future, maximum levels for these trichothecenes will be regulated by the European Commission as announced in EU (VO) 1881/2006. For the implementation of these maximum levels, more data on occurrence and behaviour of T-2 and HT-2 toxins in primary agricultural products as well as during cleaning treatment and food processing are needed. In the current work, we determined the T-2/HT-2 concentrations in four oat cultivars (Aragon, Dominik, Ivory, Pergamon) from ten different agricultural sites in Germany, grown in cultivar studies in 2007. The grains were de-hulled, oat meal was prepared, and bread with 20% oat meal and 80% wheat flour was baked. In the cereal-processing chain, samples were taken at various steps and subsequently analysed for their T-2/HT-2 content. We employed liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and an immunological screening method (enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA)) for T-2/HT-2 determination. Detection limits were between 1 and 10 microg kg(-1) in different matrices. T-2/HT-2 concentrations determined by ELISA in oat samples from ten different agricultural sites in Germany were between 9 and 623 microg kg(-1). The median and 90th percentile were 48 and 191 microg kg(-1) T-2/HT-2, respectively. One site showed six times higher T-2/HT-2 levels than the other sites, where concentrations ranged from 322 to 623 microg kg(-1). In 80% of the samples the cultivars Pergamon and Ivory had the lowest concentration of T-2 and HT-2 toxins. Using LC-MS for T-2/HT-2 determination, cleaning of the raw material did not lead to significant reductions of T-2 and HT-2 levels, whereas de-hulling led to a reduction of over 90%. Boiling of oat meal produced from cleaned raw material to yield 'porridge' resulted in varying T-2/HT-2 levels in experimental replicates. No major reduction of T-2/HT-2 levels in cooked porridge was obtained. Standardized baking experiments using 20% oat meal showed that T-2 and HT-2 toxins are relatively stable during the baking process, probably due to their temperature stability.

Influence of barley malting operating parameters on T-2 and HT-2 toxinogenesis ofFusarium langsethiae, a worrying contaminant of malting barley in Europe

“…T-2 toxin on wheat (Mateo et al 2002). One study has been performed on well-identified F. langsethiae on German oats where 0.623 mg kg À1 of T-2 and HT-2 toxins were quantified (Schwake-Anduschus et al 2009). Only one study (Logrieco et al 1990) found similar levels.…”

Human and animal dietary exposure to T‐2 and HT‐2 toxin

“…The effects of the processing, in particular de-hulling of grains may lead to a marked overall reduction in levels of T2 and HT2. Reductions of up to 98% in the Fusarium toxins, including T2 and HT2 concentration in the final products such as oat flakes, have been reported when compared with the original grains (Scudamore et al, 2007;Schwake-Anduschus et al, 2010). For the majority of data reported as 'Grains for human consumption' information on processing was not available, and therefore no factors to convert from raw agricultural commodities into processed commodities were applied.…”

Optimization and Validation of a Fluorescence Polarization Immunoassay for Rapid Detection of T-2 and HT-2 Toxins in Cereals and Cereal-Based Products

“…Several studies demonstrated that during cleaning, sorting and milling processes of grains, T-2 and HT-2 are not destroyed but unevenly redistributed between fractions (Scudamore et al 2007(Scudamore et al , 2009Pascale et al 2011). Moreover, T-2 and HT-2 are relatively stable compounds during baking and cooking (Beyer et al 2009;Schwake-Anduschus et al 2010).…”