Research Publications (Food Safety)

Author(s): Robert Kosicki, Joanna Buharowska-Donten, Magdalena Twarużek

Penicillium expansum is an important postharvest pathogen of pomaceous fruit and a causal agent of blue mold or soft rot. In this study, we investigated the effect of ambient pH on growth, ultrastructure alteration, and pathogenicity of P. expansum, as well as accumulation of patulin and expression of genes involved in patulin biosynthesis.

Two methods for measuring ochratoxin A in corn, oat, and grape juice were developed and compared. Flow injection (FI) and on-line liquid chromatography (LC) performances were evaluated separately, with both methods using a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer (MS/MS) for quantitation. Samples were fortified with 13C uniformly labeled ochratoxin A as the internal standard (13C-IS) and prepared by dilution and filtration, followed by FI- and LC-MS/MS analysis.

The presence of mycotoxins in dried distillers’ grains with solubles (DDGS), a by-product of bioethanol production from maize, has been a matter of concern due to the increasing global utilisation of this ingredient in animal feed. In this study, 186 samples of maize DDGS produced in Brazil were analysed for the presence of major mycotoxins: aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1, and G2), fumonisins (B1 and B2), zearalenone (ZEN), deoxynivalenol (DON) and ochratoxin A (OTA).

Environmental Microbiology, Accepted Article. Penicillium expansum, as the causal agent of blue mould and a main producer of mycotoxin patulin, is a global concern for economic and food safety. To date, the nutritional requirements of the pathogen during infection and patulin biosynthesis are poorly understood. Here, we genetically characterized the role of the bZIP transcription factor PeMetR in sulphur metabolism, virulence and patulin biosynthesis of P. expansum.

The detection of Ochratoxin A (OTA) in the milk of ruminants occurs infrequently and at low levels, but its occurrence may be higher in dairy products such as cheese. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of OTA in cheeses purchased in the metropolitan city of Bologna (Italy) and the surrounding area. For the analysis, a LC-MS/MS method with a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 1 µg/kg was used.

In this review, an analysis focusing on mycotoxin determination in infant breast milk and infant food has been summarised for the last fifteen years of research focused on the intended population group of 1–9 months. The objective was to know the level of exposure of the child population to an estimated daily intake (EDI) of mycotoxins from the consumption of habitual foods. The EDI was compared with the tolerable daily intake (TDI) established by EFSA to estimate risk.

Author(s): Wanjing Lai, Rui Cai, Kang Yang, Tianli Yue, Zhenpeng Gao, Yahong Yuan, Zhouli Wang

Human are exposed to a wide range of mycotoxins through dietary food intake, including processed food. Even most of the mycotoxin exposure assessment studies are based on analysis of foodstuffs, and evaluation of dietary intake through food consumption patterns and human biomonitoring methods are rising as a reliable alternative to approach the individual exposures, overcoming the limitations of the indirect dietary assessment.

Author(s): Cristiane Rosa da Silva, Cristina Tonial Simões, Juliano Kobs Vidal, Magdiél Antonio Reghelin, Carlos Alberto Araújo de Almeida, Carlos Augusto Mallmann

Fusarium mycotoxins represent a major threat for cereal crops and food safety. While previous investigations have described plant biotransforming properties on mycotoxins or metabolic relapses of fungal infections in plants, so far, the potential consequences of radical exposure in healthy crops are mostly unknown.

The aim of this study was to conduct a first evaluation on the co-occurrence of aflatoxins (AF) M1, B1, B2, G1 and G2; fumonisins (F) B1 and B2; deoxynivalenol (DON); de-epoxydeoxinivalenol (DOM-1); ochratoxin A (OTA); zearalenone (ZEN); α-zearalenol (α-ZEL); and β-zearalenol (β-ZEL) in 68 samples of fluid milk consumed in Pirassununga, São Paulo, Brazil. The probable daily intake (PDI) was also calculated for each mycotoxin evaluated.

Mycotoxins contaminate crops worldwide and play a role in animal health and performance. Multiple mycotoxins may co-occur which may increase the impact on the animal. To assess the multiple mycotoxin profile of corn (Zea mays), we conducted a 7-year survey of new crop corn grain and silage in the United States.

Author(s): Yaoyin Pan, Chendi Liu, Jiguo Yang, Yuqian Tang

Author(s): Hualin Guo, Yuhan Sun, Pengfei Ma, Imran Mahmood Khan, Nuo Duan, Zhouping Wang

Author(s): Guiling Yang, Yanhua Wang, Tiancai Wang, Dou Wang, Hongbiao Weng, Qiang Wang, Chen Chen

Wine is a worldwide alcoholic beverage with antioxidant active substances and complex flavors. Moderate drinking of wine has been proven to be beneficial to health. However, wine has some negative components, such as residual pesticides, heavy metals, and biotoxins. Of these, biotoxins from microorganisms were characterized as the most important toxins in wine.

Sensitive and rapid analysis of zearalenone (ZEN) in grains and feed is essential to guarantee the food security for human health. Herein a chemiluminescence method was demonstrated to measure the content of zearalenone in food samples. An immunomagnetic beads-anti-ZEN monoclonal antibody complex was prepared.

Author(s): Runxian Li, Yang Wen, Luqing Yang, Anguo Liu, Fenglai Wang, Pingli He

Mycotoxin contamination of cereals used for feed can cause intoxication, especially in farm animals; therefore, efficient analytical tools for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of toxic fungal metabolites in feed are required. Current trends in food/feed analysis are focusing on the application of biosensor technologies that offer fast and highly selective and sensitive detection with minimal sample treatment and reagents required.

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites that are produced by molds during their development. According to fungal physiological particularities, mycotoxins can contaminate crops before harvest or during storage. Among toxins that represent a real public health issue, those produced by Fusarium genus in cereals before harvest are of great importance since they are the most frequent in European productions. Among them, deoxynivalenol (DON) and fumonisins (FUM) frequently contaminate maize.

Fumonisin B (FB) and other fumonisins, deoxynivalenol (DON), and zearalenone (ZEN) are mycotoxins (secondary metabolites of fungi) present at high levels of contamination in poultry diets and threatening the sustainability of the poultry industry and egg safety for consumers. However, residual mycotoxins in breeder eggs and their effects on chicken progeny and gizzard ulcerations remain unclear.

Author(s): Hongwen Xu, Jiadi Sun, Haiming Wang, Yinzhi Zhang, Xiulan Sun

Exposure to environmental contaminants might play an important role in neurodegenerative disease pathogenesis, such as Parkinson´s disease (PD) and Alzheimer´s disease (AD). For the first time in Spain, the plasmatic levels of 19 mycotoxins from patients diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease (44 PD and 24 AD) and from their healthy companions (25) from La Rioja region were analyzed.

Ochratoxins (OTs) are mycotoxins frequently found in wines, and their contamination can occur during any stage of the winemaking process. Ochratoxin A (OTA) has been the most widely reported and the only one whose concentrations are legislated in this beverage.