Toxigenic fungal and mycotoxin contamination of maize samples from different districts in Serbia

Abstract

This study was carried out in order to investigate the natural occurrence of toxigenic fungi and levels of zearalenone (ZEA), deoxynivalenol (DON) and aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1) in the maize stored immediately after harvesting in 2016 and used for animal feed in Serbia. A total of 22 maize samples were collected from four different districts across the country: City of Belgrade (nine samples), Šumadija (eight samples), Podunavlje (four samples) and Kolubara (one sample). Toxigenic fungi were identified according to the morphological characteristics whereas the mycotoxins contamination were detected using biochemistry enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent (ELISA) assay. The tested samples were mostly infected with Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium spp., except that one sample originated from Kolubara was not contaminated with Aspergillus species. Fusarium graminearum was the most common species in the maize sample from Kolubara district (60%), F. verticillioides in the maize samples from Podunavlje (43.75%) and City of Belgrade (22.4%) districts, and Penicillium spp. in the maize samples from Šumadija district (26.38%). In the analysed maize samples the presence of Aspergillus species was low (0-1.78%). Mycotoxicological analysis revealed the presence of zearalenone (ZEA), deoxynivalenol (DON) and aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1) in all the investigated samples, except that DON and AFB 1 were not recorded in the samples from Podunavlje and Kolubara districts, respectively. The investigated samples were highly contaminated with ZEA, with incidence of 100% for the samples from Šumadija, Podunavlje and Kolubara districts and 88.89% for the samples from City of Belgrade district. In addition, the samples contamination with DON was 100% and 22.2% for the samples from Šumadija, Kolubara and City of Belgrade, districts, respectively. The highest number of AFB 1 positive samples was found in Šumadija district (87.5%), while in the City of Belgrade and Podunavlje districts, 55.56% and 50% AFB 1 positive Vesna Krnjaja et al. 240 samples were established, respectively. Generally, remarkable infection of all the tested samples with toxigenic fungal species from Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium genera were recorded. In addition, high contamination with mycotoxins ZEA, DON and AFB 1 were also recorded; nevertheless, only in one sample the level of DON exceeded the allowed legal limit (1750 μg kg-1) according to Regulation for unprocessed maize. Therefore, permanent mycological and mycotoxicological analyses of maize grain are necessary for risk assessment of fungal and mycotoxin contamination throughout the food chain.

Incidence of aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, zearalenone, and deoxynivalenol in food commodities from Turkey

“…In many European countries such as Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, AF formation is reported to be low due to weather conditions (Levi c et al, 2013). Although there were studies supporting this finding (Griessler, Rodrigues, Handl, & Hofstetter, 2010;Krnjaja et al, 2018), the literature had many studies with the higher AFs values above the EU regulation limits between 2002 and 2018 years (Kos et al, 2018;Moretti, Logrieco, Visconti, & Bottalico, 2004). In a study conducted in Northern Italy between 2012 and 2013, it was reported that favorable drought conditions caused an increase A. flavus infection, thereby elevating the presence of AFs in maize crops (Perrone, Gallo, & Logrieco, 2014).…”