A Survey of Natural, Mycological, and AFB1 Contamination in Wheat and Maize during the 2022 Harvesting Season in Albania

Abstract

(1) Background: Nowadays, food safety is paramount in human health, with mycotoxin as one of the most important contaminants to contaminate foodstuffs. Aflatoxins are potent food contaminants present in maize and wheat. Invasion of toxigenic fungi in the field and storage stage is directly affected by climate and further environmental factors; (2) Methods: Mycological contamination of maize and grain harvested in 2022 was surveyed in 129 samples. Aflatoxin B1 contamination was investigated employing the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent assay method; (3) Results: Our findings reveal the presence of fungi from five genera, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium, Alternaria, and Cladosporium, with maize was more frequently contaminated compared to wheat commodity. Penicillium genera were the most abundant, 77.89%, followed by Fusarium (74.73%) and Aspergillus (72.63%). The samples originating from the Korça region (104 units) resulted in a higher fungal load on the three genera; (4) Conclusions: AFB1 contamination in maize was more critical versus wheat. The AFB1 incidence in maize was 88.23%, with a maximum of 69.12 mg/kg, and in wheat was 4.91%. Compared to EU MRL, no wheat sample was found above (2 g/kg), while the situation with maize commodity is considered more serious, with 41.18% exceeding the AFB1 MRL (5 g/kg) as well as feed MRL 32.25%. Our findings and other reports from the last decade suggest that information and disseminating good agriculture practices to the farmers must be in focus.