Occurrence of Alternaria toxins in fibre flax, linseed, and peas grown in organic and conventional farms: Monitoring pilot study

Fungi representing Alternaria spp. are ubiquitous pathogens that may under certain conditions cause spoilage of various food crops. Several Alternaria species are known producers of toxic secondary metabolites in some fruits and vegetables, nevertheless, only limited knowledge is available on the occurrence of these mycotoxins in legumes and/or oilseeds used for human nutrition. In the first part of the presented study, the analytical method employing reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with fluorescence detection (FLD) was implemented to enable the examination of these food commodities for the presence of altenuene (AE), alternariol (AOH), and alternariol monomethyl ether (AME); the limits of detection were 1, 3 and 2 µg/kg for AE, AOH, and AME, respectively. Altogether 122 flax and 84 pea seed samples grown under organic and/or conventional farming conditions were analysed in the years 2002–2003. AME was detected in 20 flax seed samples; AE and AOH were present in only 2 and 4 samples, respectively. More frequent incidence of Alternaria toxins was recognised in fibre flax seeds as compared to linseed samples. Compared to the crops from the conventional farming, the concentrations of these mycotoxins found in positive organic samples were higher. No Alternaria mycotoxins were detected in the pea samples, probably due to the presence of antifungal compounds in the respective crop.  

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Preliminary Survey of Alternaria Toxins Reduction during Fermentation of Whole Wheat Dough

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms8020303 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 303

Author(s):

Elizabet Janić Hajnal ◽

Lato Pezo ◽

Dejan Orčić ◽

Ljubiša Šarić ◽

Dragana Plavšić ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Performance ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Regression Function ◽

Monomethyl Ether ◽

Tenuazonic Acid ◽

Alternariol Monomethyl Ether ◽

Whole Wheat Flour ◽

Wheat Dough ◽

Whole Wheat ◽

Alternaria Toxins

The aim of this study was to investigate the fate of the most common Alternaria toxins found in wheat—tenuazonic acid (TeA), alternariol (AOH), and alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) during sourdough processing. For this purpose, spiked whole wheat flour, 3% sourdough starter, 0.5% of baker’s yeast, and 105% of water calculated on flour weight as a base were used as raw materials. Spiked whole wheat dough was fermented for 4 h, 8 h, 12 h, 24 h, and 48 h at 25 °C, and at each point the fermented dough samples were taken, frozen, lyophilized, grounded, and stored until further analysis. To study the effect of sourdough processing on TeA, AOH and AME content, the validated method of high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for these mycotoxins was used. Mathematical models of Alternaria toxins reduction were developed in the form of Four Parameter Logistic Regression function. The maximum reduction of TeA, AOH, and AME levels was archived at 48 h of dough fermentation at 25 °C compared with dough after kneading (0 h). Under these conditions, a reduction of the toxin levels of 60.3 %, 41.5%, and 24.1% was observed for TeA, AOH, and AME, respectively.

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Effect of Wheat Milling Process on the Distribution of Alternaria Toxins

Toxins ◽

10.3390/toxins11030139 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 139 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Elizabet Janić Hajnal ◽

Jasna Mastilović ◽

Ferenc Bagi ◽

Dejan Orčić ◽

Dragana Budakov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Performance ◽

Fusarium Species ◽

Monomethyl Ether ◽

Milling Process ◽

Low Grade ◽

Limited Information ◽

Dry Milling ◽

Alternariol Monomethyl Ether ◽

Alternaria Toxins ◽

By Products

Alternaria toxins are mycotoxins produced by various Alternaria species which, besides the Fusarium species, represent the principal contaminants of wheat worldwide. As currently, only limited information on the behaviour of Alternaria toxins during processing of cereals is available, the objective of this study was to investigate the effect of the dry milling process of wheat on Alternaria toxins distribution. Alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) and tenuazonic acid (TeA) content were analysed by high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in all milling fractions of untreated (control), fungicide-treated, Alternaria tenuissima inoculated and commercial wheat sample. After dry milling process, in last break and milling flows and by-products, increased concentration of examined Alternaria toxins was detected. TeA was quantified in almost all milling fractions in all tested wheat samples, while AOH and AME were detectable mostly in last break and milling flows and by-products. In respect to the contamination with Alternaria toxins, white flour can be considered as relatively safe product. Since Alternaria toxins are concentrated mainly in the peripheral parts of the kernel, a special attention should be given to their content in low-grade flours and milling by-products.

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Development of Sensitive and Reliable UPLC-MS/MS Methods for Food Analysis of Emerging Mycotoxins in China Total Diet Study

Toxins ◽

10.3390/toxins11030166 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 166 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Danlei Sun ◽

Nannan Qiu ◽

Shuang Zhou ◽

Bing Lyu ◽

Shuo Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fungal Pathogens ◽

High Performance ◽

Solid Phase ◽

Monomethyl Ether ◽

Alternariol Monomethyl Ether ◽

Total Diet Study ◽

Relative Standard ◽

Total Diet ◽

Diet Study ◽

Food Matrices

With the climatic changes that have taken place during the last decade, the spectrum of fungal pathogens as well as mycotoxins has considerably changed. As a result, some emerging mycotoxins have been shown to occur frequently in agricultural products. In this study, a sensitive and reliable method for the determination of 10 emerging mycotoxins (beauvericin, enniatin A, enniatin A1, enniatin B, enniatin B1, alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether, altenuene, tentoxin, and tenuazonic acid) in 12 different food matrices (cereals, legumes, potatoes, meats, eggs, aquatic foods, dairy products, vegetables, fruits, sugars, beverages, and alcohol beverages) was developed and validated. After a simple extraction, a one-step sample clean-up by a HLB solid phase extraction (SPE) column was sufficient for all 12 food matrices prior to analysis with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Isotope internal standards 13C-TeA, TEN-d3, and 13C-AFB2 were used for accurate quantification. Validation in terms of linearity, selectivity, sensitivity, accuracy, and precision (intra and inter-day variability) were evaluated for the 10 mycotoxins in all selected matrices. The sensitivity varied from 0.0004 to 0.3 ng mL−1 (limits of detection) and from 0.002 to 0.9 ng mL−1 (limits of quantitation). The recoveries of 10 mycotoxins in fortified samples were from 60.6% to 164% including very low spiking levels in all 12 food matrices, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) less than 12%. The proposed methodology was applied to the analysis of 60 samples collected from five provinces within the 6th China Total Diet Study with the results discussed in detail. The advantages of sensitivity, accuracy, and robustness made it a powerful tool for emerging mycotoxin monitoring and dietary exposure assessment.

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Analysis of Mycotoxins Contamination in Poultry Feeds Manufactured in Selected Provinces of South Africa Using UHPLC-MS/MS

Toxins ◽

10.3390/toxins11080452 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 452 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sharon Maphala Mokubedi ◽

Judith Zanele Phoku ◽

Rumbidzai Naledi Changwa ◽

Sefater Gbashi ◽

Patrick Berka Njobeh

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

High Performance ◽

Fumonisin B1 ◽

Monomethyl Ether ◽

Poultry Feed ◽

Alternariol Monomethyl Ether ◽

Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer ◽

Type A Trichothecenes ◽

Contamination Levels ◽

Feed Samples

A total of 105 different types of poultry feed samples from South Africa were simultaneously analysed for the presence of 16 mycotoxins using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (UHPLC-MS/MS). The data revealed the presence of 16 mycotoxins in the various poultry feed samples. Fumonisin B1 (FB1) was the most dominant recovered from 100% of samples analysed at concentrations ranging between 38.7 and 7125.3 µg/kg. This was followed by zearalenone (ZEN) (range: 0.1–429 µg/kg) and deoxynivalenol (DON) (range: 2.5–154 µg/kg). Samples were also found to be contaminated with fumonisin B2 (FB2) (range: 0.7–125.1 µg/kg), fumonisin B3 (FB3) (range: 0.1–125.1 µg/kg), α-zearalenol (α-ZEL) (range: 0.6–20 µg/kg ), β-zearalenol (β-ZEL) (range: 0.2–22.1 µg/kg), 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-ADON) (range: 0.1–12.9 µg/kg) and 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (15-ADON) (range: 1.7–41.9 µg/kg). Alternaria mycotoxin, i.e., Alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) was recovered in 100% of samples at concentrations that ranged from 0.3–155.5 µg/kg. Aflatoxins (AFs) had an incidence rate of 92% with generally low concentration levels ranging from 0.1–3.7 µg/kg. Apart from these metabolites, 2 type A trichothecenes (THs), i.e., HT-2 toxin (HT-2) (range: 0.2–5.9 µg/kg) and T-2 toxin (T-2) (range: 0.1–15.3 µg/kg) were also detected. Mycotoxin contamination in South African poultry feed constitutes a concern as correspondingly high contamination levels, such as those observed herein are likely to affect birds, which can be accompanied by severe health implications, thus compromising animal productivity in the country. Such exposures, primarily to more than one mycotoxin concurrently, may elicit noticeable synergistic and or additive effects on poultry birds.

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Simultaneous Determination of Eight Synthetic Permitted and Five Commonly Encountered Nonpermitted Food Colors in Various Food Matrixes by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

Journal of AOAC International ◽

10.1093/jaoac/93.5.1503 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 93 (5) ◽

pp. 1503-1514 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Sumita Dixit ◽

Subhash K Khanna ◽

Mukul Das

Keyword(s):

Simultaneous Determination ◽

High Performance ◽

High Sensitivity ◽

Gradient Elution ◽

Reversed Phase ◽

Hplc Method ◽

Food Category ◽

Food Commodities ◽

Food Colors

Abstract A simple and sensitive HPLC method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of eight permitted food colors and five commonly encountered nonpermitted colors in various food commodities, including sugar-, fat-, and starch-based food matrixes. The method uses a specific food category-based cleanup/treatment procedure before color extraction to avoid the interference of food matrixes, and to obtain the optimal color extraction. Analysis was performed on a reversed-phase C18 -Bondapak column with ammonium acetate and acetonitrile gradient elution as the mobile phase; a programmable max-specific visible detection was used to monitor colors to obtain the higher sensitivity and expanded scope needed for multicolor blends having diverse absorption maxima. All colors showed good linearity, with regression coefficients of 0.99740.9999. The LOD and LOQ values ranged from 0.01 to 0.12 mg/L, and from 0.04 to 0.83 mg/L or mg/kg, respectively. The intraday and interday precision tests produced good RSD values, and the recoveries from different food matrixes ranged from 82 to 104%. The method offers high sensitivity for analysis of a wide variety of food matrixes containing a broad scope of multicolor blends. Two nonpermitted colors, orange II and metanil yellow, were found. Also, a number of samples contained permitted colors at levels two-to seven-fold higher than those prescribed.

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Alternaria toxins alternariol and alternariol monomethyl ether in grain foods in Canada

Mycotoxin Research ◽

10.1007/s12550-012-0141-z ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 28 (4) ◽

pp. 261-266 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Peter M. Scott ◽

Wendy Zhao ◽

Sherry Feng ◽

Benjamin P.-Y. Lau

Keyword(s):

Monomethyl Ether ◽

Alternariol Monomethyl Ether ◽

Alternaria Toxins ◽

Grain Foods

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Effect of Atmospheric Cold Plasma Treatments on Reduction of Alternaria Toxins Content in Wheat Flour

Toxins ◽

10.3390/toxins11120704 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (12) ◽

pp. 704 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Elizabet Janić Hajnal ◽

Milan Vukić ◽

Lato Pezo ◽

Dejan Orčić ◽

Nevena Puač ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Wheat Flour ◽

High Performance ◽

Cold Plasma ◽

Plasma Source ◽

Second Order ◽

Experimental Results ◽

Atmospheric Plasma ◽

Alternariol Monomethyl Ether ◽

Plasma Treatments ◽

Alternaria Toxins

Beside Fusarium toxins, Alternaria toxins are among the most commonly found mycotoxins in wheat and wheat products. Currently, investigations of possibilities of reduction of Alternaria toxins in the wheat-processing chain are limited. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the potency of cold atmospheric plasma treatments, as a new non-thermal approach, for reduction of alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) and tentoxin (TEN) content in spiked white wheat flour samples. Samples were treated with plasma generated in the air during 30 s to 180 s, with an increment step of 30 s, and at four varying distances from the cold plasma source (6 mm, 21 mm, 36 mm and 51 mm). The reduction of the Alternaria toxins content in samples after treatment was monitored by high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The maximum reduction of the examined Alternaria toxins was obtained by treatment performed at 6 mm distance from the plasma source, lasting 180 s, resulting in reductions of 60.6%, 73.8% and 54.5% for AOH, AME and TEN, respectively. According to the obtained experimental results, five empirical models in the form of the second-order polynomials were developed for the prediction of AOH, AME and TEN reduction, as well as the temperature and the moisture content of the wheat flour, that gave a good fit to experimental data and were able to predict the response variables successfully. The developed second-order polynomial models showed high coefficients of determination for prediction of experimental results (between 0.918 and 0.961).

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Development and Application of a QuEChERS-Based Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method to Quantitate Multi-Component Alternaria Toxins in Jujube

Toxins ◽

10.3390/toxins10100382 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 382 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Cheng Wang ◽

Yingying Fan ◽

Weizhong He ◽

Dongqiang Hu ◽

Aibo Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mass Spectrometry ◽

Liquid Chromatography ◽

Tandem Mass Spectrometry ◽

Extraction Procedure ◽

Monomethyl Ether ◽

Tandem Mass ◽

Tenuazonic Acid ◽

Alternariol Monomethyl Ether ◽

Infection Level ◽

Alternaria Toxins

A simple, rapid and efficient methodology was developed and validated for the analysis of four Alternaria toxins in jujube: Tenuazonic acid, alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether, and tentoxin. Under the optimized extraction procedure, chromatographic conditions, and instrumental parameters, the four toxins were effectively extracted via a quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) method, and quantified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Matrix-matched calibrations ranging from 0.01 to 0.5 μg mL−1 were conducted for the quantification due to the matrix effect. A blank jujube sample was spiked at 40, 80 and 160 μg kg−1, obtaining recoveries in the range of 83.5–109.6%. Limits of detection and limits of quantification were in the range of 0.14–0.26 and 0.47–0.87 μg kg−1, respectively. Finally, the developed method was applied for the quantification of the four toxins in 14 jujube samples, including black spot-infected and uninfected samples. Results showed that the predominant toxin detected in all the samples was tenuazonic acid, the content of which was associated with the infection level; alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether, and tentoxin were detected in all the infected samples and some of the uninfected samples with rather low contents.

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Occurrence and Exposure Assessment of Mycotoxins in Ready-to-Eat Tree Nut Products through Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with High Resolution Q-Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry

Metabolites ◽

10.3390/metabo10090344 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (9) ◽

pp. 344

Author(s):

Alfonso Narváez ◽

Yelko Rodríguez-Carrasco ◽

Luigi Castaldo ◽

Luana Izzo ◽

Giulia Graziani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Performance ◽

Daily Intake ◽

Monomethyl Ether ◽

Health State ◽

Fungal Contamination ◽

Alternariol Monomethyl Ether ◽

Case Scenario ◽

Worst Case ◽

Tree Nut ◽

Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry

Tree nuts have become popular snacks due to their attributed benefits in the health state. Nevertheless, their susceptibility to fungal contamination lead to the occurrence of potentially dangerous mycotoxins. Hence, the aim of this work was to evaluate the presence of mycotoxins in ready-to-eat almonds, walnuts, and pistachios from Italian markets. The most relevant mycotoxin found in almonds was α-zearalanol in 18% of samples (n = 17) ranging from 3.70 to 4.54 µg/kg. Walnut samples showed frequent contamination with alternariol, present in 53% of samples (n = 22) at levels from 0.29 to 1.65 µg/kg. Pistachios (n = 15) were the most contaminated commodity, with β-zearalenol as the most prevalent toxin present in 59% of samples ranging from 0.96 to 8.60 µg/kg. In the worst-case scenario, the exposure to zearalenone-derived forms accounted for 15.6% of the tolerable daily intake, whereas it meant 12.4% and 21.2% of the threshold of toxicological concern for alternariol and alternariol monomethyl-ether, respectively. The results highlighted the extensive presence of Alternaria toxins and zearalenone-derived forms, scarcely studied in ready-to-eat tree nut products, highlighting the necessity to include these mycotoxins in analytical methods to perform more realistic risk assessments.

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Alternaria Mycotoxins in Sunflower Seeds: Incidence and Distribution of the Toxins in Oil and Meal

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/0362-028x-58.10.1133 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 58 (10) ◽

pp. 1133-1134 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

SOFÍA N. CHULZE ◽

ADRIANA M. TORRES ◽

ANA M. DALCERO ◽

MIRIAM G. ETCHEVERRY ◽

MARÍA L. RAMÍREZ ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alternaria Alternata ◽

Sunflower Seed ◽

Monomethyl Ether ◽

Sunflower Seeds ◽

Tenuazonic Acid ◽

Alternariol Monomethyl Ether ◽

Laboratory Conditions ◽

Alternaria Toxins ◽

Alternaria Mycotoxins

A survey of 150 sunflower-seed samples was carried out to evaluate the contamination from infection with Alternaria alternata with alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) and tenuazonic acid (TA). A high percentage of the samples was contaminated with AOH (85%), AME, (47%), and TA (65%). The average levels detected were 187 μg/kg for AOH, 194 μg/kg for AME, and 6,692, μg/kg for TA. When sunflower seeds fermented by Alternaria alternata were processed under laboratory conditions to obtain the oil and meal, different distributions of Alternaria toxins between the oil and the meal were observed: whereas AOH, AME, and TA were detected in the meal, only AME and TA were detected in the oil, and the latter in a low percentage.

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