Research Publications (Food Safety)

Patulin (PAT) is a common toxin in fruit juice, and adsorption is the most commonly used patulin removal method. The safety, adsorption capacity, and separation capacity of the adsorbent are the most important considerations. As a low-cost and biocompatible microbial material, bacterial cellulose gel membranes (BCMs) have many hydroxyl active sites that are readily modified, and BCMs are also stable, which facilitates their separation from aqueous solution.

Background Alternaria toxins are ubiquitous contaminants in highly consumed food products. Therefore, they are candidates to be regulated by EU legislation. In this context, the availability of reliable analytical methods is a keystone both for protecting the health of citizens and smooth functioning of the European market.

Background Natural contamination with mycotoxins in dried distiller’s grains with solubles (DDGS) as a mainstream animal feed ingredient poses a risk to animal health. Objective A regulatory method was needed for the agency to simultaneously detect 11 mycotoxins of high regulatory priority in DDGS. Methods A DDGS sample (10 g) was extracted twice with acetonitrile-water under mildly acidic condition.

Background In Guangdong Province of China, the climate is very wet, so there are many different fungi living in aquatic feeds, which produce mycotoxins. These compounds contaminate agricultural products worldwide and present a great threat to human health. It is necessary to determine their contamination level in aquatic feeds.

Sesame Sesamum indicum L. is a major oil-based seed crop that has been widely cultivated and consumed in Pakistan. Unfortunately, sesame is highly prone to Aspergillus fungal growth in the field, and under inappropriate storage conditions can become contaminated with aflatoxins, the most potent carcinogen found in nature.

Cereal grains are usually ensiled to improve their nutritional value and are one of the main sources of feed for dairy cattle. However, during storage, grains can be contaminated with toxicogenic fungi. Sorghum is one of the most economically important cereals in the world. Therefore, the aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of storage duration and tannin and moisture contents on toxicogenic fungal populations in sorghum grain storage.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of the mycotoxins that occur frequently in wheat and considered a serious threaten to health. Cold plasma was used as an efficient approach for DON degradation in this study. The influences of working gas type, voltage and processing time of cold plasma system on DON degradation were investigated. It was found that 83.99% of DON solid standard could be degraded after 8 min treatment at 50 kV in air atmosphere.

The dynamics mechanisms regulating the growth and AFB1 production of Aspergillus flavus during its interactions with maize kernels remain unclear. In this study, shortwave infrared hyperspectral imaging (SWIR-HSI) and synchrotron radiation Fourier transform infrared (SR-FTIR) microspectroscopy were combined to investigate chemical and spatial-temporal changes in incremental damaged maize kernels induced by A.

The study presents a systematic review of published scientific articles investigating the effects of interventions aiming at aflatoxin reduction at the feed production and animal feeding phases of the milk value chain in order to identify the recent scientific trends and summarize the main findings available in the literature. The review strategy was designed based on the guidance of the systematic review and knowledge synthesis methodology that is applicable in the field of food safety.

This experiment was conducted to evaluate whether a commercial mycotoxins-binder, XL, could effectively attenuate the negative effects of Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) on growth performance, immunological function, and intestinal health in birds.

Mycotoxins such as zearalenone (ZEN), deoxynivalenol (DON) and T-2 toxin (T-2) are the most poisonous biological toxins in food pollution. Mycotoxin contaminations are a global health issue. The aim of the current study was to use porcine Leydig cells as a model to explore the toxic effects and underlying mechanisms of ZEN, DON and T-2. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of ZEN was 49.71 μM, and the IC50 values of DON and T-2 were 2.49 μM and 97.18 nM, respectively.

Patulin is a widespread mycotoxin which constitutes serious threats to human health. Biological strategies that utilize microbial enzymes have shown to be promising in the control of patulin contamination. In this study, a lipase (RL12) from the isolated strain Ralstonia sp. SL312 was successfully purified and studied for the degradation of patulin. Degradation assays for patulin by RL12 were systematically performed both in aqueous solution and apple juice.

Aspergillus nomiae is the most important contaminant in Brazil nut due to its high incidence in these nuts and its strong production of carcinogenic metabolites: aflatoxins (AF). Aflatoxin biosynthesis pathway in A. nomiae is poorly studied. Thus, in present investigation, aflatoxin production and gene cluster (aflC, aflQ, aflU, and aflX) expression profile were evaluated on two strains of A.

Trichothecenes (TCNs) are the mycotoxins produced by many fungal species such as Fusarium, 

One of the limitations of the use of corn in the food chain is its contamination with mycotoxins. Reduction in their levels can be achieved by processing the grain, which in the case of corn can be achieved by wet or dry milling. The aim of this study was to compare the distribution of aflatoxins B1 and B2, and fumonisin B1 in corn fractions obtained by dry and wet milling, aiming to identify conditions to mitigate the risk of exposure to these contaminants.

Spent coffee grounds (SCGs), which constitute 75% of original coffee beans, represent an integral part of sustainability. Contamination by toxigenic fungi and their mycotoxins is a hazard that threatens food production. This investigation aimed to examine SCGs extract as antimycotic and anti-ochratoxigenic material. The SCGs were extracted in an eco-friendly way using isopropanol. Bioactive molecules of the extract were determined using the UPLC apparatus.

In this work, a novel and credible electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) was constructed for the ultrasensitive and highly selective detection of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). Amino-functionalized 3D graphene hydrogel (NGH) served as the ECL platform with the self-enhanced ECL of luminol–palladium–graphene oxide (lum–Pd–GO) acting as a marker for the antibodies against AFB1.

Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, Accepted Article. Rice is an important cereal for Cameroon where 95% of the population consumes it frequently. In order to ensuring a healthy food supply to consumers, the objective of this study was to determine the fungal profile and quantify mycotoxins in twelve rice samples produced in Cameroon.

The aim of this study was to determine whether low doses of zearalenone (ZEN) influence the carry-over of ZEN and its metabolites to the bone marrow microenvironment and, consequently, haematological parameters.

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of different species of fungi. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEN) and fumonisin B1 (FB1) are the main mycotoxins contaminating animal feedstuffs. These mycotoxins can primarily induce hepatotoxicity, immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity and nephrotoxicity, consequently cause adverse effects on the health and performance of animals.

The present study aimed to evaluate the binding capacity and stability of ochratoxin A (10 µg/kg; OTA) by single and co-culture Lactobacillus acidophilus + Lactobacillus rhamnosus in various modes including viable, heat-, and ultrasound-inactivated cells as well as a combination of viable + heat- or ultrasound-inactivated cells. The stability of OTA binding on native and modified lactic acid bacteria (LAB) surface was conducted after washing with solvent.

Fusarium head blight (FHB) caused by fungi of the genus Fusarium is one of the most dangerous crop diseases, which has a wide geographic distribution and causes severe economic losses in the production of major cereal species. The infection leads to the accumulation of mycotoxins in grains, which compromises its suitability for human and animal consumption.

Mycotoxins can impart different types of combined toxicity to humans and animals, therefore, it is critical to understand the underlying mechanisms to eliminate the harm. Herein a combination of zearalenone (ZEA) at 2 μM and deoxynivalenol (DON) at 0.1 μM decreased cell viability and increased ROS level in HepG2 cells, suggesting synergistic toxicity exerted by ZEA and DON even at their low toxic concentrations.

Glycosylation is an effective way to increase the polarity of natural products. UDP-glucuronyltransferases (UGTs) are commonly observed and extensively studied in phase II drug metabolism. However, UGTs in microorganisms are not well studied, which hampered the utilization of this type of enzyme in microbial glucuronidation of natural products.

Zearalenone (ZEA) is a non-steroidal xenoestrogen mycotoxin produced by many Fusarium fungal species, which are common contaminants of cereal crops destined for worldwide human and animal consumption. ZEA has been reported in various male reproduction dysfonctions, including decreased fertility potential. In this report, the direct effect of ZEA on the immature Sertoli TM4 cell line was evaluated.