Research Publications (Food Safety)

Publication date: March 2015
, Volume 69
Author(s): A. Garvín , R. Ibarz , A. Ibarz

Mycotoxins are low molecular weight fungal metabolites that pose a threat as toxic contaminants of food products, thereby necessitating their effective monitoring and control. Microplate ELISA can be used for this purpose, but this method is characteristically time consuming, with a duration extending to several hours. This report proposes a variant of the ELISA method for the detection and quantification of three mycotoxins, ochratoxin A, aflatoxin B1 and zearalenone, in the kinetic regime.

Chitosan beads were prepared by the method of inverse suspension cross-linking characterized and applied to remove patulin from aqueous solution. Batch adsorption experiments were performed to evaluate the optimum adsorption conditions and reusability. The results showed that chitosan beads were effective in removing patulin from aqueous solution. The maximum adsorption capacity of chitosan beads for patulin was 626.4 μg/g at pH 7.0, 40C for 24 h.

The aim of this study was to characterize 27 feed additives marketed as mycotoxin binders and to screen them for their in vitro zearalenone (ZEN) adsorption. Firstly, 27 mycotoxin binders, commercially available in Belgium and The Netherlands, were selected and characterized.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is nephrotoxic, hepatotoxic, immunotoxic, neurotoxic, reprotoxic, teratogenic, and carcinogenic (group 2B), being characterized by species and sex differences in sensitivity. Despite the fact that OTA is in some aspects a controversial topic, OTA is the most powerful renal carcinogen. The aim of this study was to make a small survey concerning OTA content in black tea, fruit tea, and ground roasted coffee, and to assess OTA transfer into beverages.

To evaluate the effects of the mycotoxins deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEA) on pigs and the benefits of two mycotoxin mitigation strategies, gilts (n = 84, 9.1 ± 0.1 kg) were allotted to four treatments: CON (control); MT (4.8 mg/kg feed DON and 0.3 mg/kg feed ZEA); MT-YC (MT + 2 g/kg of yeast cell wall product); and MT-YF (MT + 2 g/kg of yeast fermentation product). After 42 days of feeding, pigs fed MT had reduced (p < 0.05) growth performance compared with pigs fed CON.

Zearalenone (ZEA) adsorption by a mixture of organic (yeast cell wall) and inorganic (activated charcoal) adsorbents was evaluated by an incomplete Box Behnken (33) statistical design with a quintuplicate at the central point. The variables analysed were different ratios of adsorbents (yeast cell wall and activated charcoal) at 100:0, 87.5:12.5 and 75:25, pH (3.0, 4.5 and 6.0) and ZEA concentrations (300, 750 and 1,200 ng/ml).

Azole fungicides have been reported to be the most effective active substances in the control of Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) and in the reduction of the main mycotoxins that occur in cereal grain, such as deoxynivalenol (DON).