scholarly journals Ubiquity of toxigenic fungi and mycotoxins in animal feeds in Republic of Serbia

2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (5-6-1) ◽  
pp. 477-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vesna Krnjaja ◽  
J. Levic ◽  
S. Stankovic

Climatic conditions and growing of grain on large areas in Republic of Serbia are suitable for development of numerous toxigenic species, such as Fusarium spp., Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium spp., and resulting from this is frequent incidence of animal feed contamination by their toxic products. In Republic of Serbia, the most frequent fungi determined in animal feed are those from Fusarium genus, as well as their mycotoxins. Of Fusarium species the most frequent one is F. graminearum, and of toxins zearalenon, in maize or wheat grains, which are the main raw material in production of animal feeds. Development of this fungi and bio-synthesis of zearalenon most often depend on period of rains in the third decade of May when wheat is in the blossoming phenostage or on ample precipitation and low temperatures at the end of summer or beginning of autumn during sensitive pheno-stage of maize growing. Aflatoxins are rarely isolated in Republic of Serbia, but there are conditions for their increased presence in imported feed components. Natural occurrence of ochratoxin A is more frequent than incidence of aflatoxins in climatic conditions of Republic of Serbia. Presence of mycotoxins produced by species of genera Fusarium, Aspergillus and Penicillium indicates potential risk of incidence of mycotoxicosis, especially in younger animal categories. For the purpose of protection of health of animals, realization of profit and high productivity in livestock production, it is necessary to explain factors which can cause animal intoxication, and to identify toxins and develop methodology for assessment of the potential toxicity of animal feed.

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vesna Krnjaja ◽  
Slavica Stankovic ◽  
Milos Lukic ◽  
Nenad Micic ◽  
Tanja Petrovic ◽  
...  

This study was carried out in order to investigate the natural occurrence of toxigenic fungi and levels of zearalenone (ZEA), deoxynivalenol (DON) and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in the maize stored immediately after harvesting in 2016 and used for animal feed in Serbia. A total of 22 maize samples were collected from four different districts across the country: City of Belgrade (nine samples), Sumadija (eight samples), Podunavlje (four samples) and Kolubara (one sample). Toxigenic fungi were identified according to the morphological characteristics whereas the mycotoxins contamination were detected using biochemistry enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent (ELISA) assay. The tested samples were mostly infected with Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium spp., except that one sample originated from Kolubara was not contaminated with Aspergillus species. Fusarium graminearum was the most common species in the maize sample from Kolubara district (60%), F. verticillioides in the maize samples from Podunavlje (43.75%) and City of Belgrade (22.4%) districts, and Penicillium spp. in the maize samples from Sumadija district (26.38%). In the analysed maize samples the presence of Aspergillus species was low (0-1.78%). Mycotoxicological analysis revealed the presence of zearalenone (ZEA), deoxynivalenol (DON) and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in all the investigated samples, except that DON and AFB1 were not recorded in the samples from Podunavlje and Kolubara districts, respectively. The investigated samples were highly contaminated with ZEA, with incidence of 100% for the samples from Sumadija, Podunavlje and Kolubara districts and 88.89% for the samples from City of Belgrade district. In addition, the samples contamination with DON was 100% and 22.2% for the samples from Sumadija, Kolubara and City of Belgrade, districts, respectively. The highest number of AFB1 positive samples was found in Sumadija district (87.5%), while in the City of Belgrade and Podunavlje districts, 55.56% and 50% AFB1 positive samples were established, respectively. Generally, remarkable infection of all the tested samples with toxigenic fungal species from Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium genera were recorded. In addition, high contamination with mycotoxins ZEA, DON and AFB1 were also recorded; nevertheless, only in one sample the level of DON exceeded the allowed legal limit (1750 ?g kg-1) according to Regulation for unprocessed maize. Therefore, permanent mycological and mycotoxicological analyses of maize grain are necessary for risk assessment of fungal and mycotoxin contamination throughout the food chain.


2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Jestoi ◽  
M. Kokkonen ◽  
S. Uhlig

Most Fusarium species are capable of producing mycotoxins that may cause adverse effects on human or animal health. The most commonly studied Fusarium mycotoxins include trichothecenes, zearalenone and fumonisins. However, it seems that nearly all of the most prevalent Fusarium species infecting grains are also capable of producing other toxic metabolites. The existing studies, although exiguous, have clearly demonstrated that other toxic metabolites of Fusarium spp. are also present in our foods and feeds, occasionally at very high levels. It is apparent that since mycotoxins, including these 'other' metabolites, are natural toxins, they cannot be completely eliminated from food and feed chains. However, scientific studies are needed to determine their true significance. Thus, the mechanism and level of toxicity as well as presence and concentration levels will have to be fully clarified. In this paper, we briefly review the prevalence of the dominant Fusarium species contaminating maize and small-grain cereals worldwide, and the current knowledge on the biological activity as well as the natural occurrence of their selected less-known toxic metabolites. Additionally, the significance of these 'other' Fusarium mycotoxins is discussed.


2012 ◽  
pp. 159-164
Author(s):  
Györgyi Bíró ◽  
János Tamás ◽  
János Borbély ◽  
Lili Mézes ◽  
Lili Mézes ◽  
...  

The Fusarium fungi hazards the grain quality of cereals, therefore significantly affects their utilization as animal feed or consumable product. The Fusarium can decrease the quality of wheat in different ways: decreases the germination capability, causes visible discoloration, mould may appear, reduces the dry material and nutrient content of the grain, causes mycotoxin infection – as a result given by its by-product. Micotoxins produced by Fusarium genus, as the trichotecenes (T-2, HT-2, deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, diacetoxyscirpenol, Fusarenone-X) and the zearalenone (F-2) are the most common in Hungary. Occurrence of fumonisins first discovered in 1988 are must be identified carefully. About 20–30% of the overall worldwide production of cereals is infected with Fusarium and its toxins, which situation is similar in Hungary. This infection causes serious yield-losses in cereal production. In the case of cereal products, which non-utilizable as forage seems, an optimal solution is utilizing as biogas raw material, but it is also important to examine the effect of the infected cereal on the anaerobe digestion process.


2020 ◽  
pp. 120-127
Author(s):  
M. Ostrenko ◽  
L. Pravdyva ◽  
Yu. Fedoruk ◽  
M. Grabovskiy ◽  
S. Pravdyvyi

In terms of geographical distribution and consumption, potatoes occupy one of the leading positions in the structure of food production in Ukraine. It is also used extensively as animal feed. The versatility of use in diff erent sectors of the economy with potatoes cannot be compared to any crop. Potato is of great importance as a raw material for the production of starch, sugar, molasses, alcohol, glucose and etc. A signifi cant reduction in the commodity production of food potatoe in farms is related to the solution a whole complex of important issues, in particular seed production, agro-technology of cultivation, application of highly eff ective pesticides, availability of agricultural machinery and material-technical support. The difficult ecological and energy situation in modern agriculture proves that it is possible to obtain high and stable yields of all crops only if there are varieties in production adapted to diff erent soil and climatic conditions. Variety is one of the important factors of yield stability and fi xed assets of agricultural production. A variety, as a genotype or a set of very close genotypes, exists in a specific environment and, moreover, interacts with it, encountering complex communication, intensity and time of manifestation, abiotic and biotic factors. At the same time, a connection is established between a variety and an environment that infl uences the formation and manifestation of morphological, economic and biological characters. The aim of the research was to study the growth, development and yield of early ripe potato varieties in the rightbank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. The article presents the results of studies on the cultivation of early ripe varieties of potatoes. Namely, the germination and survival of potato plants was studied, which amounted to 89.5 and 87.3 % in the Skarbnytsa variety, 90.2 and 88.7 % in the Shchedryk variety, and 88.6 and 86.5 % in the Dnipryanka variety; the number of formed stems per plant is calculated, which is 3.3 in the Skarbnytsa variety, 3.6 in the Shchedryk variety and 2.7 in the Dniprianka variety. The dynamics of the mass increase and the fractional composition of potato tubers are shown. On average, during the research, the average weight of tubers from the bush was high for the Shchedryk variety and amounted to 616.2 g, somewhat less than those for the Skarbnytsa (484,5 g) and Dniprianka (397,8 g) varieties. It was established that the Shchedryk variety had the highest potato productivity in the experiment – 250.3 c/ha, in the Skarbnytsa and Dnipryanka varieties, the yield was 210.0 and 201.2 c/ha, respectively. Key words: potato, varieties, plant survival, tubers weight, productivity.


Author(s):  
Jurgita JOVAIŠIENĖ ◽  
Bronius BAKUTIS ◽  
Violeta BALIUKONIENĖ ◽  
Audrius KAČERGIUS ◽  
Algimantas PAŠKEVIČIUS ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to estimate maize silage hygienic sanitary parameters, contamination with mycotoxins in dairy farms in Lithuania. In 2011–2012 maize silage samples were collected from 20 dairy farms: prior to ensiling and 3 and 8 months after ensiling. In maize samples, prior to ensiling, L. monocytogenes was detected 25.0 % and after 3 months of ensiling – 10 %. Average of yeast and filamentous fungi in raw material samples were respectively – 71.39 ± 32.17 and 47.67 ± 18.31 CFU/g, after 3 months – 50.06 ± 16.09 CFU/g and 28.27 ± 13.18, after 8 months – 213.81 ± 55.98 and 215.08 ± 56.16 CFU/g. In raw maize dominated Fusarium spp. and in silage – Aspergillus, Penicillium spp. Average of lactic acid bacteria – 189.01 ± 57.79 (3 months after ensilage) and 436.11 ± 93.97 CFU/g (8 months after ensilage). Compared prior to ensilage and 3 and 8 months after ensilage maize samples, higher mycotoxins concentrations of DON – 36.96 % (P < 0.05) and ZEA – 77.32 % (P < 0.05) were detected in 3 month after ensilage, T-2 toxin – 72.69 % (P < 0.05), AFL – 94.31 % (P < 0.05) were detected in 8 month after ensilage. Concentration of OTA was higher 34.99 % (P > 0.05) in samples after 3 months of ensiling. Dry matter and pH respectively: prior to ensiling – 36.96 % and 5.26, 3 months after ensiling – 33.17 % and 3.84, 8 months after ensiling – 40.52 % and 3.91. The current results indicate the presence of yeast, viable fungi spores and mycotoxins AFL (total), ZEA, DON, T-2 and OTA contamination in maize silage in Lithuania.


2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vesna Krnjaja ◽  
Aleksandar Stanojkovic ◽  
Slavica Stankovic ◽  
Milos Lukic ◽  
Zorica Bijelic ◽  
...  

In this study, the total fungal count and contamination with toxigenic fungi from Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium genera of 127 maize grain samples collected from animal farms in subrbs of Belgrade area during 2012-2015, were determined. The total fungal count was determined using a dilution method, and standard mycological procedures were used to identify potential toxigenic fungi genera. In the tested samples of maize grains, the total fungal count was from 1 x 101 to 3 x 106 cfu g-1. No statistically significant differences between investigated years in regard to the mean total fungal count were determined. According to the Regulation on the quality of animal feed of the Republic of Serbia, the total fungal count above permitted limit (2 x 105 cfu g-1) was established in 9.52, 7.89, 20.69 and 55.56% tested samples in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively. Potentially toxigenic fungi from Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillim genera have been identified as the most common in all the samples. In most of the samples, based on the average value for the four-year period (2012-2015), Fusarium species (92.22%) have been identified, followed by the species of the genera Aspergillus (80.83%) and Penicillium (48.68%). A weak positive correlation was established between the moisture content of the samples and the total fungal count in 2012 (r=0.41), in 2013 (r=0.27) and in 2014 (r=0.36) and the medium positive correlation (r=0.61) in 2015. Based on the results of mycological analysis of grain maize it can be concluded that the test samples in a relatively large number did not meet the criteria of hygienic quality. Therefore, regular and continuous control of the mycological quality of maize grain as the most important nutrient in animal nutrition is necessary as a preventive measure to reduce and control contamination of grain with mycotoxigenic fungi.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 68-75
Author(s):  
Adina Daniela Tărău ◽  
Camelia Urdă ◽  
Felicia Mureşanu ◽  
Felicia Chețan ◽  
Vasile Oltean ◽  
...  

"Soybean is an important economical crop used for human consumption, animal feed and industrial raw material. Also, soybean is succesfully used in crop roatations with the main cereal crops because it’s biological nitrogen-fixing capabilities. A great diversity of pests and diseases including nematodes, insects and phytopathogenic fungi are known to affect soybean crop. From plant emergence to grain maturity, pests Tetranychus urticae and Etiella zinckenella, pseudofungi Peronospora manshurica and fungi Fusarium sp. and Botrytis cinerea can cause economic damage. In this study was evaluated the influence of tillage systems, different types of fertilizers and pesticide treatments on the most economical important diseases and pests of soybean crop in a field experiment at Agricultural Research and Development Station (ARDS Turda) in the climatic conditions of 2020. Teo TD, an early maturing soybean variety created at ARDS Turda, was used for the experiment. Based on the assessments made, soil tillage system, fertilization and control of pests and diseases have differently influenced the downy mildew and T. urticae attack. To reduce the attack of pathogens in soybean crop, the best technological option is plowing, balanced fertilization and application of fungicides, either without or in combination with an insecticide. The T. urticae populations developed on mineral, organic and green fertilized plants. Integrated control methods must combine agro-technical measures with the application of chemical treatments in accordance with the warning of the appearance of the first adults. "


Author(s):  
Slavica Stankovic ◽  
Jelena Levic ◽  
Vesna Krnjaja ◽  
Aleksandra Bocarov-Stancic ◽  
Sonja Tancic ◽  
...  

A total of 88 and 40 wheat samples collected immediately prior to harvest in 2005 and 2006, respectively, under different agroecological conditions, were studied in respect to the occurrence of Fusarium spp. and the production of fusariotoxins. The greatest number of samples was infected with species of the genera Fusarium (81.8 and 65.0%), and Alternaria (36.3 and 17.5%) with the intensity ranging from 9.4 to 84.0% in 2005 and from 23.4 to 80.6% in 2006. Out of 13 identified species belonging to the genus Fusarium, F. graminearum had the highest frequency (35.2 and 12.5%) and the intensity up to 67.2%, and 21.9%, in 2005 and 2006, respectively, followed by F. poae but only in 2005 (20.4%), and F. proliferatum in 2006 (19.7%). The natural occurrence of mycotoxins in positive samples varied from 37 to 331 ppb for zearalenone and from 31 to 125 ppb for diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS) and T-2 toxin. The concentration of mycotoxins amounted, on average, to 133.4, 61.0 and 45.7 ppb for zearelenone, DAS and T-2 toxin, respectively.


2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (5-6-1) ◽  
pp. 589-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Krnjaja ◽  
J. Levic ◽  
Z. Tomic ◽  
Z. Nesic ◽  
Lj. Stojanovic ◽  
...  

Production and providing of high quality maize grain are of primary importance for livestock production since maize is the main component of livestock feed. Contamination with fungi not only diminishes the quality of grain, but some fungi species can produce highly toxic compounds known as mycotoxins. Considering that maize is economically the most important grown plant in Serbia, content and intensity of frequency of these pathogen fungi species are investigated in maize stored in the storage facilities. Based on studies of the fungi incidence in stored maize intended for nutrition of livestock, it was established that during the period from February 2005 to March 2006, some fungi species were present successively (Fusarium spp., Penicillium spp.), other with interruptions of one (Nigrospora spp., Aspergillus spp., Acremonium spp., Alternaria spp), three (Mucor spp., Chaetomium spp., Rhizopus spp.) to four months (Cladosporium spp.), and also sporadically during three (Epicoccum spp., Rhizopus spp., Trichothecium spp.), two (Gliocladium spp.) or one month (Papulaspora spp., Phialophora spp.). Period June-October is the most critical for preservation of the quality of stored maize since the number of fungi species present (8?14 of total of 17 identified fungi genera) and their frequency during this period are the highest, especially of toxigenic species of Fusarium (43.5?62.5%) and Penicillium (10.0?33.5%) genera. Positive correlation (r = 0.5979**) between dynamics of incidence and frequency of isolated fungi species indicates that fungi with higher frequency of incidence remain longer on the grain during storage. F. verticillioides and F. subglutinans, of total of 6 identified Fusarium species were present on the grain during entire year and with the highest frequency (24.7% and 5.9%, respectively). During single year (2005) F. verticillioides was present in the highest percentage from February to October (22.0?39.5%), and F. subglutinans from April to October (8.0?12.5%), whereas the both species were isolated the least during winter period December-January (4.0?8.0% and 0.5?1.0%, respectively). F. graminearaum is the third toxigenic Fusarium species which from the mycotoxicological aspect can be important for period June-September when it is mostly present (5.0?11.0%). Incidence of other Fusarium species is sporadic (1.3% F. proliferatum, 1.0% F. sambucinum and 0.5% F. poae).


2012 ◽  
Vol 48 (Special Issue) ◽  
pp. S18-S24 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Nedělník ◽  
H. Lindušková ◽  
M. Kmoch

The literature linking Bt maize versus non-Bt maize and the changes in the fungal microflora spectrum and in the mycotoxins content have been summarised. The European corn borer reportedly promotes the infection of maize by Fusarium spp. Stalk and ear rots caused by Fusarium spp. are often related to mycotoxin accumulation in maize kernels. As a result, food and animal feed from maize are more severely contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins: e.g. fumonisins (FUM), deoxynivalenol (DON), and zearalenone (ZEA). Mycotoxins in field maize lead annually economic losses of hundreds of millions of dollars in all regions of the world. The insecticidal proteins in genetically modified hybrid Bt maize reduce insect damage caused by certain Lepidopteran larvae, which in turn can reduce the infection of the grain by the mycotoxigenic fungi. Where such insect damage is a major factor in mycotoxin contamination, Bt maize can lower mycotoxin levels in many cases. The protection of maize plants against insect damage (European corn borer) through the use of Bt technology seems to be one of the ways to reduce the contamination of maize by Fusarium species and mycotoxins.


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