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). Samples were provided by the local industry between January 2017 and October 2020, and mycotoxins were quantified by LC-MS/MS. More than 98% of the analysed samples were contaminated with mycotoxins, from which 59.9% had a single mycotoxin, 29.9% two mycotoxins, and 9.1% more than two mycotoxins. The most prevalent metabolites were fumonisin B1 and B2, being detected in 98.8% (mean 3,207 μg/kg) and 97.6% (mean 1,243 μg/kg) of the samples, respectively; aflatoxin B1 had the third highest positivity, with 32.3% (mean 1.47 μg/kg), followed by ZEN, with 18.01% (mean 18.2 μg/kg), DON, with 12.9% (mean 59.6 μg/kg), and OTA was not detected. Co-occurrence of total aflatoxins (AFT = aflatoxin B1+B2+G1+G2) and total fumonisins (FBT = fumonisin B1+B2) was observed in 32.07% of the samples analysed for these mycotoxins. Co-occurrence of AFT and ZEN was found in 7.84% of the samples analysed for such mycotoxins, while FBT and DON co-occurred at 13.01%. AFT, FBT, DON and ZEN co-occurred in only one sample (0.84%). Except for FBT, a considerable number of samples presented the evaluated mycotoxins below their respective limit of quantification (LOQ) with percentages of 67.61% for AFT, 81.99% for ZEN, 87.07% for DON and 100% for OTA. Since the production of bioethanol and its by-products is growing worldwide, including in Brazil, mycotoxicological monitoring of maize DDGS is crucial to identify the effects of mycotoxins occurrence in animal feed formulated with this ingredient.

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O crescimento populacional desordenado, aliado ao pouco avanço do saneamento básico no Brasil, tem como consequência diversos problemas estruturais como o abastecimento de água, esgotamento sanitário, manejo de resíduos sólidos entre outros que não tem sido tratado muitas vezes de maneira adequada. No Brasil a realidade sanitária está muito aquém das condições ambientais ideais. O esgoto é pouco coletado e tratado, sendo muitas vezes despejados nos corpos receptores. Por isso procuramos analisar os parâmetros físico-químicos do esgoto tratado da Estação de Tratamento de Esgoto -Belém em Curitiba para verificarmos se está de acordo com a Resolução CONAMA Nº 430/2011 e se o mesmo esgoto está apto a voltar ao corpo receptor. De acordo com as análises físico-químicas do esgoto tratado, pudemos verificar que as mesmas atendem a legislação vigente embora tenha apresentado IQA abaixo do recomendado no Paraná.

BACKGROUNDMycotoxin monitoring in cereal grains has great importance in the food and feed industries. This study evaluated mycotoxin contamination in corns with different endosperm textures in 2 years of cultivation. Samples of dent, semi‐dent, flint and semi‐flint corns from field experiments were analyzed by high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC‐MS/MS).RESULTSOccurrences of fumonisins B1 (FB1) and B2 (FB2) in 2020 were 45.72% (mean 270 μg kg−1) and 35.89% (94.97 μg kg−1), respectively, and 68.98% (446 μg kg−1) and 45.83% (152 μg kg−1) in 2021. Occurrence of aflatoxin B1 was 11.96% (0.16 μg kg−1) in 2020 and 11.11% (0.13 μg kg−1) in 2021. In 2020, deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenona (ZEA) presented occurrences of 1.28% and 1.70%, with means of 4.08 and 2.45 μg kg−1, respectively. In 2021, results were 8.33% (31.00 μg kg−1) for DON and 8.79% (4.38 μg kg−1) for ZEA. Citrinin, diacetoxyscirpenol and fusarenon‐X did not occur in 2020 but presented 1.66%, 0.83%, and 2.50% positive rates in 2021, respectively. In 2020, flint corn presented the lowest concentration of FB1 whereas dent corn presented the highest concentration of FB1 and FB2 (P < 0.05). In 2021, dent corn presented the highest means of FB1, FB2 and diacetoxyscirpenol (P < 0.05). Dent and semi‐dent presented the highest concentration of nivalenol (P < 0.05).CONCLUSIONThe endosperm texture influenced mycotoxin contamination in corn grains, especially FB1 and FB2, which had the highest concentration in dent corn in the 2 years of this study. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

BACKGROUND: Distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) are coproducts of the biofuel industries that use corn as raw material. This cereal is commonly contaminated by mycotoxins, including fumonisins (FBs), which can pose a serious health threat to humans and animals. Corn DDGS are typically used as a protein-rich animal feed. As mycotoxins from the original cereal grains become concentrated in DDGS, mycotoxicological monitoring is highly required before their use as ingredient in the industry.RESULTS: This work aimed to develop a methodology for predicting fumonisins B 1 (FB 1 ) and B 2 (FB 2 ) in corn DDGS using nearinfrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) technology associated with chemometric methods. One hundred and ninety corn DDGS samples originating from Brazilian ethanol plants and feed mills were included in this assessment. Two datasets were created: one for calibration (132 samples) and another for external validation (58 samples). Partial least squares regression and a cross-validation approach were applied to build the models. Liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry was used as the reference methodology. Calibration results of correlation coefficient and residual prediction deviation for FB 1 and FB 2 were, respectively, 0.90 and 0.88; and 2.16 and 2.06. CONCLUSION: Values of the external validation dataset were compared and no statistical difference was found between groups, indicating a satisfactory predictive ability and confirming the potential of NIRS to predict fumonisins in corn DDGS.