Research Publications (Food Safety)

Anti-idiotypic nanobodies, usually expressed by gene engineering protocol, has been shown as a nontoxic coating antigen for toxic compound immunoassays. We here focused on how to increase immunoassay sensitivity by changing the nanobody’s primary sequence. In the experiments, two anti-idiotype nanobodies against monoclonal antibody 1H2, which is specific to ochratoxin A, were obtained and named as nontoxic coating antigen 1 (NCA1) and nontoxic coating antigen 2 (NCA2).

Author(s): Haiyue Wang, Yujia Wei, Ying Xie, Chao Yan, Hongzhen Du, Zengning Li

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a class of mycotoxin that are mainly produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium and widely found in plant origin food. OTA-contaminated foods can cause serious harm to animals and humans, while high stability of OTA makes it difficult to remove in conventional food processing. Thus, sensitive and rapid detection of OTA undoubtedly plays an important role in OTA prevention and control.

Ochratoxin A (OTA), a mycotoxin that is of utmost concern in food and feed safety, is produced by fungal species that mainly belong to the Aspergillus and Penicillium genera. The development of mitigation strategies to reduce OTA content along the supply chains is key to ensuring safer production of food and feed. Enzyme-based strategies are among the most promising methods due to their specificity, efficacy, and multi-situ applicability.

Author(s): M.L. González Pereyra, A.L. Di Giacomo, A.L. Lara, M.P. Martínez, L. Cavaglieri

Here, a reliable and sensitive method for the determination of 38 (modified) mycotoxins was developed. Using a QuEChERS-based extraction method [acetonitrile/water/formic acid (75:20:5, v/v/v)], followed by two runs of high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry with different conditions, relevant mycotoxins in cereals were analyzed. The method was validated according to the performance criteria defined by the European Commission (EC) in Commission Decision no. 657/2002.

A reliable, sensitive and accurate multiple mycotoxin method was developed for the simultaneous determination of 17 mycotoxins in swine, poultry and dairy feeds using stable isotope dilution (13C-ISTD) and (ultra)-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS).

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is produced by fungi present in several agricultural products with much relevance to food safety. Since this mycotoxin is widely found in cereals, beer has a potential contamination risk. Therefore, it was deemed essential to quantify, for the first time, the levels of OTA in beer, a cereal-based product that is marketed in Portugal, as well as to calculate the human estimated weekly intake (EWI) and risk assessment.

Author(s): Lijun Luo, Xiaohong Liu, Shuai Ma, Libo Li, Tianyan You

Low moisture content ready-to-eat foods vended in Nigerian markets could be pre-packaged or packaged at point of sale. These foods are widely and frequently consumed across Nigeria as quick foods. Despite their importance in the daily diets of Nigerians, a comprehensive study on the diversity of fungi, fungal metabolite production potential, and mycotoxin contamination in the foods has not yet been reported.

In South Africa, child malnutrition is highly prevalent among children from in rural areas mostly at risk. In the Eastern Cape (EC) Province, maize is commonly used as complementary and weaning food. Previous studies conducted in parts of EC have indicated high levels of fumonisin B (FB) mycotoxins in home-grown maize, as well as the co-occurrence of other Fusarium mycotoxins, such as deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEN).

Penicillium expansum is one of the most harmful post-harvest pathogens of pomaceous fruits and the causal agent of blue rot disease. During infection, P. expansum produces the toxic secondary metabolites patulin and citrinin that can impact virulence and, further, render the fruit inedible. Several studies have shown that epigenetic machinery controls synthesis of secondary metabolites in fungi.

Author(s): Alexandros Kanapitsas, Anthimia Batrinou, Athanasios Aravantinos, Constantinos Sflomos, Panagiota Markaki Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin of great interest to humans for its nephrotoxic effects.The development and validation of an OTA method determination in raisins is described by using High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with Fluorescence Detector (FD).

Author(s): Alexandros Kanapitsas, Anthimia Batrinou, Athanasios Aravantinos, Constantinos Sflomos, Panagiota Markaki Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin of great interest to humans for its nephrotoxic effects. The development and validation of an OTA method determination in raisins is described by using High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with Fluorescence Detector (FD).

Author(s): Yanan Gao, Qiaoyan Ye, Xiaoyu Bao, Xin Huang, Jiaqi Wang, Nan Zheng

Author(s): Dilek Aşcı Çelik, Nilgun Gurbuz, Vehbi Atahan Toğay, Nurten Özçelik

Author(s): Michał Złoch, Agnieszka Rogowska, Paweł Pomastowski, Viorica Railean-Plugaru, Justyna Walczak-Skierska, Joanna Rudnicka, Bogusław Buszewski

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of fungi that contaminate food and feed and have a significant negative impact on human and animal health and productivity. The tropical condition in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) together with poor storage of feed promotes fungal growth and subsequent mycotoxin production.

In this study, triethylene tetramine–modified water‐insoluble corn flour caged in magnetic chitosan resin (TETA‐WICF/MCR) was firstly prepared, which indicates novel aspects for immobilization and chemically modification of mycotoxin adsorbents. The TETA‐WICF/MCR was characterized using zoom stereo microscope, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X‐ray diffractometer (XRD), and magnetic separation performance analysis.

Twenty-two mycotoxins were investigated in bread and biscuits samples (n = 115) purchased from Tunisia. Deoxynivalenol (DON), enniatin B (ENB), ENB1, and zearalenone (ZEA) occurred in the samples with ENB detected in all the samples. Whole bread was the most contaminated matrix showing the highest amounts of DON (25.2 ng/g), ENB (10.7 ng/g), and ENB1 (5.4 ng/g). However, biscuits showed a maximum level of ZEA (1.08 ng/g).

Ochratoxin A (OTA), a common mycotoxin, has attracted great concern as many foodstuffs can suffer from OTA contamination; OTA causes harmful effects on human and animals. Rapid and sensitive detection of OTA is demanded in many fields for agricultural product quality, food safety, and health.

Penicillium verrucosum survives in soil and on cereal debris. It colonises grain during harvesting, drying and storage. There is no information on the relative tolerance of P. verrucosum to solute and matric stress in terms of colonisation, or on the biosynthetic toxin gene clusters or ochratoxin A (OTA) production.

Author(s): Gültekin Gökçe, Sondes Ben Aissa, Katarína Nemčeková, Gaëlle Catanante, Noureddine Raouafi, Jean-Louis Marty

Aspergillus exists commonly in many crops and any process of crop growth, harvest, storage, and processing can be polluted by this fungus. Once it forms a biofilm, Aspergillus can produce many toxins, such as aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), ochratoxin, zearalenone, fumonisin, and patulin. Among these toxins, AFB1 possesses the highest toxicity and is labeled as a group I carcinogen in humans and animals.

Beauvericin (BEA) and zearalenone derivatives, α-zearalenol (α-ZEL), and β-zearalenol (β-ZEL), are produced by several Fusarium species.