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

Abstract

Alternaria alternata has been reported to be the most common fungus on Canadian Western wheat. The Alternaria toxins alternariol (AOH) and alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) are mutagenic in vitro and there is also limited evidence for carcinogenic properties. They have been found in wheat from Europe, Argentina, China and Australia, but they have not been looked for in Canadian grains or grain foods. In the present study, 83 samples of grain-based food sold in Canada, including flour, bran, breakfast cereals, infant cereals and bread, were analysed for AOH and AME using extraction with methanol, clean-up on combined aminopropyl/C18 solid phase extraction (SPE) columns, and liquid chromatography (LC) with tandem mass spectrometric (MS/MS) determination. The overall average recoveries of AOH and AME from a variety of spiked cereal foods (n = 13) were 45 ± 9 % and 53 ± 9 %, which could be attributed mainly to MS matrix effects The instrumental limits of detection (LOD) were 0.34 ng/g and 0.13 ng/g for AOH and AME, respectively, and the instrumental limits of quantitation (LOQ) were 1.1 and 0.43 ng/g. Of 83 samples analysed, 70 were positive for AOH (up to 63 ng/g, in a soft wheat bran) and 64 contained AME (up to 12 ng/g in a bran-based breakfast cereal). Of particular interest was the presence of AOH and/or AME in 27 out of 30 infant foods (up to 4.4 ng/g and 9.0 ng/g, respectively, in a sample of multigrain cereal).

AlternariaMycotoxins in Food and Feed: An Overview

“…In the last decade, Ostry [1], Scott et al [9], and Fernández-Cruz et al [10] have studied the occurrence of the major Alternaria mycotoxins: AOH, AME, and TEN. However, food-relevant Alternaria species are able to produce many more metabolites including that known as emerging Alternaria mycotoxins described as potentially hazardous.…”

Determination of mycotoxins in pomegranate fruits and juices using a QuEChERS-based method

“…Also, they can cause significant postharvest decay leading to qualitative deterioration of the infected products (Logrieco, Bottalico, Mulé, Moretti, & Perrone, 2003;Logrieco, Moretti, & Solfrizzo, 2009). Additionally, some Alternaria species are capable to produce several toxic secondary metabolites, known as Alternaria mycotoxins, contaminating food commodities in storage (Andersen & Frisvad, 2004;Scott, Zhao, Feng, & Lau, 2012). Due to their ability to grow and produce toxins at low temperatures they can be serious contaminants of agricultural raw materials or processed products even under refrigerated conditions.…”

Identification of six new Alternaria sulfoconjugated metabolites by high‐resolution neutral loss filtering

“…Based on this initial analysis, the top seven producers of sulfoconjugated metabolites were fermented in liquid culture and inoculated onto rice and Cheerios to study the effects of media on the extent of sulfoconjugation. Rice and Cheerios were selected to reflect the natural occurrence of Alternaria on grains, and to ensure that the sulfoconjugation was not an artifact of their production on laboratory media . NLF analysis of the HRMS 2 data from these fermentations led to the detection of 38 sulfoconjugated metabolites.…”

“…Some Alternaria mycotoxins are stable under typical food processing conditions . These mycotoxins have been detected in carrots, berries, onions, tomatoes, as well as in the derived processed food products, including vegetable and fruit juices, and baked bread . At present, there are no regulations for Alternaria toxins in food.…”