Incidence of Aflatoxins and Ochratoxin A in Wheat and Corn from Albania

Abstract

In this study, aflatoxins (AFs) and ochratoxin A (OTA) were analyzed in grains, specifically wheat and corn, from Albania. To summarize, 71 wheat and 45 corn samples from different growing areas were collected. The multi-toxin analytical procedure involved sample extraction and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). The incidence of AF was 18% in the analyzed wheat and 71% in the corn samples. The concentration of AFs was much higher in the corn samples than in the wheat samples. The maximum permitted levels for aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and total AFs were not exceeded in the wheat samples, while they were exceeded in 36% of the corn samples. In the wheat samples, the AFB1 concentration varied between 0.2 and 0.4 µg kg−1. However, the highest concentrations in the corn samples were 2057, 2944, and 3550 µg kg−1. OTA was present in only three corn samples and one wheat sample. However, all contaminated samples exceeded the maximum permitted levels. This report reveals the presence of AFs and OTA in grain commodities, specifically wheat and corn, grown in Albania.

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

“…All the contaminated wheat samples originated from the Fieri region. Similar rates of contamination was found in a previous survey of Albanian wheat, with figures of 6.0% and 0.0% reported for the years 2014 and 2015, respectively [34].…”

“…In contrast, just 2.1% of samples were found to exceed this level in a previous study of AFB1 in feed in Europe [37]. In addition, compared with data on the incidence of AFB1 from the years 2014 and 2015, we found that samples from 2023 exhibited a much lower level of incidence compared with 2014 (a mean value of 464 µg/kg), but a similar level compared with 2015 (a mean value of 55.7 µg/kg) [34]. This suggests that aflatoxin production may be dramatically influenced by annual climatic fluctuations.…”

“…As a country in southern Europe, Albania has faced climate modification in the last decades. Previous publications indicate that mycotoxin contamination in crops presents a critical food safety issue in the country [33,34]. Studying aflatoxin B1 in crops that may also be used as feed is especially important because feed contaminated with the AFB1 metabolite may result in the milk of lactating animals being contaminated with AFM1, another regulated mycotoxin; indeed, the presence of AFM1 in milk produced in Albania has already been reported in the literature [35].…”

A Survey on Mycological and Aflatoxin B1 Contamination in Wheat and Maize Harvested during the 2022 Season in Albania

“…In contrast, just 2.1% of samples were found to exceed this level in a previous study of AFB1 in feed in Europe [37]. In addition, compared with data on the incidence of AFB1 from the years 2014 and 2015, we found that samples from 2023 exhibited a much lower level of incidence compared with 2014 (a mean value of 464 μg/kg), but a similar level compared with 2015 (a mean value of 55.7 μg/kg) [34]. This suggests that aflatoxin production may be dramatically influenced by annual climatic fluctuations.…”

“…As a country in southern Europe, Albania has faced climate modification 6 in the last decades. Previous publications indicate that mycotoxin contamination in crops presents a critical food safety issue in the country [33,34]. The study of aflatoxin B1 in crops which may also be used as feed is especially important because feed contaminated with the AFB1 metabolite may result in the milk of lactating animals being contaminated with AFM1, another regulated mycotoxin; indeed, the presence of AFM1 in milk produced in Albania has already been reported in the literature [35].…”