Worldwide contamination of food-crops with mycotoxins: Validity of the widely cited ‘FAO estimate’ of 25%

Eskola, Mari; Kos, Gregor; Elliott, Chris; Hajšlová, Jana; Mayar, Sultan; Krska, Rudolf

doi:10.1080/10408398.2019.1658570

Cited by 825 publications

(567 citation statements)

References 66 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

462

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Twenty-five percent of global food crops are contaminated by these toxins, although the number varies widely depending on many factors (e.g., commodity analyzed, mycotoxin studied, etc.) and can actually reach 60.0% to 80.0% for some mycotoxins [34,35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occurrence of Mycotoxins in Fish Feed and Its Effects: A Review

Oliveira

Vasconcelos

2020

Toxins

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Plant-based ingredients have been successfully replacing fishmeal in finished fish feeds. However, using crops in feeds results in an increased risk of contamination by fungi and mycotoxins and a higher incidence of mycotoxicosis in fish. This might decrease aquaculture’s productivity as mycotoxicosis generally result in decreased body weight, growth impairment and higher rates of disease and mortality in fish. Additionally, some mycotoxins might accumulate in the fish musculature. As such, fish consumption might become another way for mycotoxins to enter the human food chain, threatening food security and public health as mycotoxins are important genotoxins, carcinogens and immunosuppressors to humans. In this work we aim to provide a review on the most important mycotoxins found in crops and in finished fish feed, i.e., aflatoxins, fumonisins, ochratoxins, trichothecenes and zearalenone. We present their effects on the health of fish and humans and their regulations in the European Union. Although work has been performed in mycotoxin research ever since the 1960s, a lot of information is still lacking regarding its effects. However, it is noticed that in order to use crops in aquafeed production, efforts should be made in order to monitor its contamination by mycotoxinogenic fungi and mycotoxins.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occurrence of Mycotoxins in Fish Feed and Its Effects: A Review

Oliveira

Vasconcelos

2020

Toxins

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced naturally by moulds, and which may contaminate food and feed. Among the chemical contaminants, mycotoxins play a major role [1][2][3][4]. According to Eskola et al [4], more than 25% of the world's agricultural production is contaminated with mycotoxins above the EU and Codex limits.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection Methods for Aflatoxin M1 in Dairy Products

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mycotoxins are toxic compounds produced mainly by fungi of the genera Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium. In the food chain, the original mycotoxin may be transformed in other toxic compounds, reaching the consumer. A good example is the occurrence of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in dairy products, which is due to the presence of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in the animal feed. Thus, milk-based foods, such as cheese and yogurts, may be contaminated with this toxin, which, although less toxic than AFB1, also exhibits hepatotoxic and carcinogenic effects and is relatively stable during pasteurization, storage and processing. For this reason, the establishment of allowed maximum limits in dairy products and the development of methodologies for its detection and quantification are of extreme importance. There are several methods for the detection of AFM1 in dairy products. Usually, the analytical procedures go through the following stages: sampling, extraction, clean-up, determination and quantification. For the extraction stage, the use of organic solvents (as acetonitrile and methanol) is still the most common, but recent advances include the use of the Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe method (QuEChERS) and proteolytic enzymes, which have been demonstrated to be good alternatives. For the clean-up stage, the high selectivity of immunoaffinity columns is still a good option, but alternative and cheaper techniques are becoming more competitive. Regarding quantification of the toxin, screening strategies include the use of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to select presumptive positive samples from a wider range of samples, and more reliable methods—high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection or mass spectroscopy—for the separation, identification and quantification of the toxin.

show abstract

“…These toxic compounds are often naturally occurring in the food chain and, therefore, result in human exposure either by direct consumption of contaminated Studies show that mycotoxins are ubiquitous contaminants [28,29]. It is estimated that they are present in approximately 25% of cereals consumed worldwide and a recent study suggests that this percentage could be even higher [30]. In general, mycotoxin contamination is higher when climatic conditions are favourable.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-Mycotoxin Occurrence and Exposure Assessment Approach in Foodstuffs from Algeria

Mahdjoubi

Arroyo‐Manzanares

Hamini-Kadar

et al. 2020

Toxins

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A survey on 120 cereal samples (barley, maize, rice and wheat) from Algerian markets has been carried out to evaluate the presence of 15 mycotoxins (ochratoxin A, deoxynivalenol, fumonisin B1 and B2, T-2 and HT-2 toxins, zearalenone, fusarenon X, citrinin, sterigmatocystin, enniatins A, A1, B and B1, and beauvericin). With this purpose, a QuEChERS-based extraction and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) were used. Analytical results showed that 78 cereal samples (65%) were contaminated with at least one toxin, while 50% were contaminated with three to nine mycotoxins. T-2 toxin, citrinin, beauvericin and deoxynivalenol were the most commonly found mycotoxins (frequency of 50%, 41.6%, 40.8% and 33.3%, respectively). Fumonisins (B1 + B2), enniatins B and B1, deoxynivalenol and zearalenone registered high concentrations (289-48878 µg/kg, 1.2-5288 µg/kg, 15-4569 µg/kg, 48-2055 µg/kg and 10.4-579 µg/kg, respectively). Furthermore, concentrations higher than those allowed by the European Union (EU) were observed in 21, 8 and 1 samples for fumonisins, zearalenone and deoxinivalenol, respectively. As a conclusion, the high levels of fumonisins (B1 + B2) in maize and deoxynivalenol, zearalenone and HT-2 + T-2 toxins in wheat, represent a health risk for the average adult consumer in Algeria. These results pointed out the necessity of a consistent control and the definition of maximum allowed levels for mycotoxins in Algerian foodstuffs. Key Contribution:The study describes the incidence of 15 mycotoxins in 120 Algerian cereal samples (barley, maize, rice and wheat grains) by UHPLC-MS/MS. The results have pointed out the high co-occurrence of mycotoxins, as well as the high concentration (above the maximum allowed concentration) of some mycotoxins legislated in the EU in those cereals, posing a risk for consumers. These results highlight the necessity of establishing maximum levels for mycotoxins in Algeria.

show abstract

Worldwide contamination of food-crops with mycotoxins: Validity of the widely cited ‘FAO estimate’ of 25%

Cited by 825 publications

References 66 publications

Occurrence of Mycotoxins in Fish Feed and Its Effects: A Review

Occurrence of Mycotoxins in Fish Feed and Its Effects: A Review

Detection Methods for Aflatoxin M1 in Dairy Products

Multi-Mycotoxin Occurrence and Exposure Assessment Approach in Foodstuffs from Algeria

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About