Research Publications (Food Safety)

Ruminant diets include cereals, protein feeds, their by-products as well as hay and grass, grass/legume, whole-crop maize, small grain or sorghum silages. Furthermore, ruminants are annually or seasonally fed with grazed forage in many parts of the World. All these forages could be contaminated by several exometabolites of mycotoxigenic fungi that increase and diversify the risk of mycotoxin exposure in ruminants compared to swine and poultry that have less varied diets.

Publication date: Available online 10 August 2015
Food and Chemical Toxicology
Author(s): M.S. Frehse, M.I.M. Martins, E.Y.S. Ono, A.P.F.R.L. Bracarense, L.Y. Bissoqui, E.M.K. Teixeira, N.J.R. Santos, R.L. Freire

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a fungal metabolite dangerous for human and animal health due to its nephrotoxic, immunotoxic, mutagenic, teratogenic and carcinogenic effects, classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in group 2B, possible human carcinogen. This toxin has been stated as a wine contaminant since 1996. The aim of this study was to develop a conceptual model for the dynamic simulation of the A.

Publication date: 2 December 2015
, Volume 214
Author(s): Jessica Gil-Serna, Covadonga Vázquez, María Teresa González-Jaén, Belén Patiño

Solid bar microextraction (SBME), followed by liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD), for the quantification of ochratoxin A in wheat and maize was developed. Ground wheat and maize grains were extracted with acetonitrile-water-acetic acid (79:20:1, v/v/v), followed by defatting with cyclohexane, and subjected to SBME-LC-FLD analysis.

Ochratoxin A (OTA), a potentially carcinogenic mycotoxin which contaminates grains, is produced by several Aspergillus species. A comparative sequence analysis of the OTA-producing Aspergillus ochraceus fc-1 strain and other Aspergillus species was performed. Two new OTA-related polyketide synthase (PKS) (AoOTApks) genes were identified. The predicted amino acid sequence of AoOTApks-1 displayed high similarity to previously identified PKSs from OTA-producing A.

Kuruc, Julie et al. Cereal grains are a significant source of ochratoxin A (OTA) in the human diet. Multiple ochratoxigenic Aspergillus and Penicillium spp. have been reported as contaminants on various cereal grains around the world, although relatively few species dominate in any given location. Efforts to mitigate the risk of fungal contamination and OTA accumulation can be made pre- and postharvest.

Publication date: January 2016
, Volume 59
Author(s): S. Degraeve , R.R. Madege , K. Audenaert , A. Kamala , J. Ortiz , M. Kimanya , B. Tiisekwa , B. De Meulenaer , G. Haesaert

Publication date: January 2016
, Volume 59
Author(s): Fausto Gentile , Giovanna Loredana La Torre , Angela Giorgia Potortì , Marcello Saitta , Maria Alfa , Giacomo Dugo

Publication date: Available online 8 July 2015

Author(s): P. Schmidt , C.O. Novinski , D. Junges , R. Almeida , C.M. de Souza

Publication date: September 2015
Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 83
Author(s): Loganathan Gayathri , Rajakumar Dhivya , Dharumadurai Dhanasekaran , Vaiyapuri S. Periasamy , Ali A. Alshatwi , Mohammad A. Akbarsha

Publication date: 1 October 2015
, Volume 210
Author(s): G. Giaj Merlera , S. Muñoz , I. Coelho , L.R. Cavaglieri , A.M. Torres , M.M. Reynoso

Fusariotoxins are mycotoxins produced by different species of the genus Fusarium whose occurrence and toxicity vary considerably. Despite the fact avian species are highly exposed to fusariotoxins, the avian species are considered as resistant to their toxic effects, partly because of low absorption and rapid elimination, thereby reducing the risk of persistence of residues in tissues destined for human consumption.

Publication date: 2 September 2015
, Volume 208
Author(s): Loukas Kanetis , Stefanos Testempasis , Vlasios Goulas , Stylianos Samuel , Charalampos Myresiotis , George S. Karaoglanidis

Publication date: 1 January 2016
, Volume 190
Author(s): Yuyan Zhu , Jie Yu , Jeffrey K. Brecht , Tianjia Jiang , Xiaolin Zheng

Ok, Hyun Ee et al.

To evaluate the effective implantation of a specific protective culture of Penicillium nalgiovense, a real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) using SYBR Green methodology was developed. Two specific primers were designed on the basis of the published partial sequences of the Internal Transcribe Spacer (ITS)1–5.8S-ITS2 region of various strains of P. nalgiovense. Using the developed method, a PCR product of 51 bp with a T

Publication date: 1 January 2016
, Volume 190
Author(s): Seonghee Ahn , Suyoung Lee , Joonhee Lee , Byungjoo Kim

Several Fusarium species produce the polyketide mycotoxin zearalenone (ZEA), a causative agent of hyperestrogenic syndrome in animals that is often found in F. graminearum-infected cereals in temperate regions. The ZEA biosynthetic cluster genes PKS4, PKS13, ZEB1, and ZEB2 encode a reducing polyketide synthase, a nonreducing polyketide synthase, an isoamyl alcohol oxidase, and a transcription factor, respectively.

An 8-week feeding trial was conducted to examine effects of wheat naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins (deoxynivalenol, DON 41 mg·kg−1) on growth performance and selected health indices of red tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus × O. mossambicus; initial weight = 4.3 g/fish).

The intestinal epithelium is the first barrier against food contaminants. Zearalenone (ZEN) is an estrogenic mycotoxin that was identified as a common contaminant of cereal grains and food and feedstuffs. In the present study, we have investigated the in vitro effects of ZEN and some of its metabolites (α-ZOL, β-ZOL) in concentrations of 10–100 µM on a swine epithelial cell line: Intestinal porcine epithelial cells (IPEC-1).

Scope
: In this study human exposure to the mycotoxin ochratoxin A (OTA) and its thermal degradation product 2’R-ochratoxin A (2’R-OTA, previously named as 14R-Ochratoxin A [22]) through coffee consumption was assessed. LC-MS/MS and the dried blood spot (DBS) technique were used for the analysis of blood samples from coffee and non-coffee drinkers (n = 50), and food frequency questionnaires were used to document coffee consumption.

Publication date: 3 August 2015
, Volume 206
Author(s): Yuanyuan Zong , Boqiang Li , Shiping Tian

A high-resolution liquid chromatography-Orbitrap mass spectrometry (LC-Orbitrap MS) method was developed for simultaneous determination of 20 Fusarium toxins (nivalenol, fusarenon-X, deoxynivalenol, 3-acetyl deoxynivalenol, 15-acetyl deoxynivalenol, HT-2 toxin, T-2 toxin, neosolaniol, diacetoxyscirpenol, fumonisin B1, fumonisin B2, fumonisin B3, fumonisin A1, fumonisin A2, fumonisin A3, zearalenone, α-zearalenol, β-zearalenol, α-zearalanol, and β-zearalanol) in cereals.