Occurrence of Four Fusarium Mycotoxins, Deoxynivalenol, Zearalenone, T-2 Toxin, and HT-2 Toxin, in Wheat, Barley, and Japanese Retail Food

Abstract

A survey of the contamination of wheat, barley, and Japanese retail food by four Fusarium mycotoxins, deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEN), T-2 toxin (T-2), and HT-2 toxin (HT-2), was performed between 2010 and 2012. A method for the simultaneous determination of the four mycotoxins by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was validated by a small-scale interlaboratory study using two spiked wheat samples (DON was spiked at 20 and 100 μg/kg and ZEN, T-2, and HT-2 at 6 and 20 μg/kg in the respective samples). The recovery of the four mycotoxins ranged from 77.3 to 107.2%. A total of 557 samples of 10 different commodities were analyzed over 3 years by this validated method. Both T-2 and HT-2 were detected in wheat, wheat flour, barley, Job's tears products, beer, corn grits, azuki beans, soybeans, and rice with mixed grains. Only T-2 toxin was detected in sesame seeds. The highest concentrations of T-2 toxin (48.4 μg/kg) and HT-2 toxin (85.0 μg/kg) were present in azuki beans and wheat, respectively. DON was frequently detected in wheat, wheat flour, beer, and corn grits. The contamination level of wheat was below the provisional standard in Japan (1,100 μg/kg). The maximum contamination level of DON was present in a sample of a Job's tears product (1,093 μg/kg). ZEN was frequently detected in Job's tears products, corn grits, azuki beans, rice with mixed grains, and sesame seeds. A sample of a Job's tears product presented the highest ZEN contamination (153 μg/kg). These results indicate that continuous monitoring by multiple laboratories is effective and necessary due to the percentage of positive samples detected.

Antifungal and Zearalenone Inhibitory Activity of Pediococcus pentosaceus Isolated from Dairy Products on Fusarium graminearum

“…The European Union (EU) has recognized permissible limits for ZEA in unprocessed cereals as 100 μg/kg excluding maize and in unprocessed maize was 350 μg/kg ( European Commission, 2007 ). However, reports of Pleadin et al (2012) revealed that maize grains were contaminated with high levels of 5.11 mg/kg ZEA and also Yoshinari et al (2014) reported that Job’s tears products of cereals have been found as 3.1 to 5.9 μg/kg of ZEA. These reports, further warns that there is an immediate need to develop a cost-effective bio-control strategy for successive mitigation of F. graminearum and ZEA contamination in food grains intended for consumption.…”

Individual and combined toxicity of T‐2 toxin and deoxynivalenol on human C‐28/I2 and rat primary chondrocytes

“…(Streit et al, ). Although the contamination level of T‐2 toxin is relatively lower than DON worldwide, it is still very common in many areas (Bhat & Reddy, ; EFSA, ; Pascale et al, ; Pinotti et al, ; Tutelyan et al, ; Yoshinari et al, ). T‐2 toxin is also a non‐negligible highly toxic mycotoxin.…”

“…T‐2 toxin and deoxynivalenol (DON) are representatives of type A and type B trichothecenes, respectively, produced on diverse cereal grains, such as wheat, barley, oats and corn, by various fungi species such as Fusarium . The contamination by DON is reported as one of the most prevalent mycotoxins particularly in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia, becoming an important global issue of food safety (Bhat & Reddy, ; EFSA, ; Herrera, Anadón, Iqbal, Bailly, & Ariño, ; Knutsen et al, ; Pinotti, Ottoboni, Giromini, Dell Orto, & Cheli, ; Rodrigues & Naehrer, ; Rodríguez‐Carrasco, Fattore, Albrizio, Berrada, & Mañes, ; Streit, Naehrer, Rodrigues, & Schatzmayr, ; Yoshinari et al, ). In a scientific report by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), DON was found in 44.6%, 43.5% and 75.2% of unprocessed grains of undefined end‐use, food and feed samples respectively, collected by 21 European countries between 2007 and 2012 (EFSA, ).…”

Development of an Analytical Method for Simultaneous Determination of the Modified Forms of 4,15-Diacetoxyscirpenol and their Occurrence in Japanese Retail Food

“…The occurrence of trichothecene mycotoxins in agricultural products have been extensively researched. Our group performed a survey of the contamination of cereals and processed cereal-based foods by deoxynivalenol (DON), a type B trichothecene, and two type A trichothecene mycotoxins, T-2 toxin and HT-2 toxin, between 2010 and 2012 [ 2 ]. These trichothecene mycotoxins were detected in a variety of foods including wheat, barley, Job’s tears products, beer, corn flour and azuki bean.…”