A Focus on Aflatoxin in Feedstuffs: New Developments in Analysis and Detection, Feed Composition Affecting Toxin Contamination, and Interdisciplinary Approaches to Mitigate It

Abstract

Aflatoxins are mold-synthetized secondary metabolites that are capable of causing disease and death in humans and other animals. Aflatoxins hold a prominent place in the discussion on feed safety as are the only mycotoxins with the regulatory framework. Feed ingredients and composition inevitably affect the susceptibility of feed to fungal and toxin contamination. To verify that legal thresholds are being complied, avoiding delivering contaminated feed to animals, and obtain correct prevalence data, analytical methods must be developed which are apt for application on a complex matrix such as animal feed. These methods should include simple screening assays and high-end confirmatory ones. Laboratories without expensive equipment can and should be able to implement methods and to analyze and detect aflatoxins. Aflatoxin contamination is a complex issue that should be assessed interdisciplinarily and farm-to-fork models should be integrated into vigilance. In this chapter, we have devoted some lines to each of the aspects mentioned above focusing on feed aflatoxin contamination.

Chemical assessment of mycotoxin contaminants and veterinary residues in Costa Rican animal feed

“…LC-MS methods have been used for screening, preparative, and confirmation purposes; in animal feed different LC-MS methods have been developed for multiple antibiotic residues analyses (Boix et al 2014;Granados-Chinchilla and Rodríguez 2017). Also, multiple-mycotoxin methods have been applied in animal feed (Njumbe et al 2015;Granados-Chinchilla 2017). So far few available methods can assess both antibiotic residues and mycotoxins using a single extraction approach and a solvent system during chromatography.…”

Alimentos de origen animal y Enfermedades de Transmisión Alimentaria en Costa Rica: 2015- 2020

“…Los animales adquieren estos metabolitos tóxicos a partir del alimento (concentrado o ensilaje), el cual ha sido almacenado en condiciones inadecuadas de temperatura y humedad, o bien; porque la materia prima con la cual se fabrica el alimento (granos generalmente) está contaminado. Existe una susceptibilidad por especie en la patogenicidad y el nivel de toxicidad a consecuencia de las micotoxinas (Granados-Chinchilla, 2017). Algunos de estos metabolitos pueden llegar a los POA en concentraciones suficientes para generar un impacto importante en la salud de los consumidores.…”

Mycotoxin Contamination of Beverages Obtained from Tropical Crops

“…Contamination with pathogens can occur at any point within the production chain, and transdisciplinary approaches are deemed necessary to tackle the issue [251]. Beverage (and raw material) fungal spoilage during processing [252,253] or storage [254] are considered the main causes for production loss [255].…”