Occurrence of Fumonisins B1 and B2 in homemade medicinal plants: Exposure assessment in northern Turkey

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the recent level of contamination with Fumonisin B 1 (FB 1 ) and Fumonisin B 2 (FB 2 ) in major medicinal plants and to assess consumer exposure in northern Turkey. FB 1 and FB 2 were investigated by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fl uorescence detection after derivatization with o-phthaldialdehyde (OPA). A total of 78 homemade medicinal plant samples from 14 species were analysed. The recovery in thyme was 67.2±5.2% for FB 1 and 80.8±14.3% for FB 2 spiked with 1 μg g -1 of each analyte. The minimum detectable amount for the OPA derivatives of FB 1 and FB 2 were 1 ng per injection and 2.5 ng per injection, respectively. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) S/N=10 was 0.078 and 0.313 μg g -1 , and the limit of detection (LOD) S/N=3 was 0.023 and 0.093 μg g -1 for FB 1 and FB 2 , respectively. FB 1 was detected in thyme (0.125) and mint (0.125 and 0.256 μg g -1 ) samples; however. FB 2 toxin was below the detection limit in all samples. These results indicate that toxins might be present in homemade medicinal plants; however, the risk of exposure to fumonisins by the consumption of those plants was lower than the estimated TDI limits (<2 μg kg -1 bw).

A Review on Mycotoxins and Microfungi in Spices in the Light of the Last Five Years

“…The FB 2 occurrence has been proven as high in paprika and as none in garlic and licorice. The highest FB 1 concentrations in different spices have been reported in onion (591.0 µg/kg) in South Africa [133], garlic (540.0 µg/kg) of unknown origin [142], mint (256.0 µg/kg) in Turkey [143], paprika (243.9 µg/kg) in Italy [107], dawadawa (165.0 µg/kg) in Nigeria [34], black pepper (135.0 µg/kg) from Sri Lanka [118], thyme (125.0 µg/kg) in Turkey [143], licorice (39.3 µg/kg) in China [141], and nutmeg (25.0 µg/kg) originated in Indonesia [123].…”

“…The ZEA occurrence has been proven as very high in paprika (up to 53.6 µg/kg) in Italy [107]; as moderate in dawadawa (up to 86.0 µg/kg) in Nigeria [34]; as low in thyme (up to 209.0 µg/kg) originated in Poland [123] and licorice (up to 8.8 µg/kg) in China [141]; and as none in chili originated in Korea [137], basil originated in India, nutmeg originated in Indonesia, oregano originated in Turkey, and black pepper originated in Brazil and Vietnam [123]-see Table 6. [123,124,143] Notes: a FB 1 = Fumonisin B 1 , FB 2 = Fumonisin B 2 , DON = Deoxynivalenol, NIV = Nivalenol, T-2 = T-2 toxin, HT-2 = HT-2 toxin, ZEA = Zearalenone; b Positive = the percentage of positive samples; c n = the total number of samples related to mycotoxin and spice from all publications involved; × = none occurrence (0%), $ = rare occurrence (up to 5%), = low occurrence (up to 25%), = moderate occurrence (up to 50%), = high occurrence (up to 75%), = very high occurrence (more than 75%).…”