Affiliation:
1. Laboratory of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine of Sousse, University of Sousse, Av. Mohamed El Karoui, Sousse, Tunisia
2. Department of Microbiology and Ecology, University of Valencia, Dr. Moliner 50, Burjassot, Valencia, Spain
3. Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biology, Complutense University of Madrid, José Antonio Novais 12, Madrid, Spain
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Fusarium is a worldwide distributed fungal genus. It includes different species pathogenic to cereals among others crops. Some of these species can also produce toxic compounds toward animals and humans.
Objective
In this work, occurrence of fumonisins B1+B2, zearalenone, type A trichothecenes (T-2 and HT-2 toxins), and type B trichothecenes (deoxynivalenol[DON] and nivalenol[NIV]) was studied in 65 samples of stored and freshly harvested wheat, barley, and maize collected in Tunisia.
Methods
Mycotoxins analyses were performed by using gas chromatography for type B trichothecenes and HPLC for other mycotoxins. Obtained results were compared with the presence of mycotoxigenic species considered responsible for their synthesis by using species-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
Results
Fumonisins occurred in 20.83% of wheat, 40% of barley, and 57.14% of maize samples, at levels exceeding European limits and suggesting a risk in Tunisian cereals, especially maize. Zearalenone, DON, NIV, and T-2+HT-2 toxins were detected at lower values in only wheat and barley samples. PCR protocols showed the predominance of F. verticillioides especially in maize, and occurrence of F. equiseti and F. graminearum in wheat and barley, and F. proliferatum in only two maize samples. A very consistent correlation was found between the detection of F. verticillioides and the contamination by fumonisins, as well as between the presence of F. graminearum and the contamination by zearalenone, DON, and NIV in the analyzed cereals.
Conclusions
Consequently, the detection of Fusarium species with the current PCR assays strategy in wheat, barley, and maize grains may be considered predictive of their potential mycotoxin risk in these matrices.
Highlights
This work is the first to report information on the occurrence of fumonisins, trichothecene, and ZEN, together with their potentially producing Fusarium species in wheat, barley, and maize in Tunisia. The high level of fumonisins in cereals, especially maize, stresses the importance of the control and the regularization of these mycotoxins for food safety.
Funder
Spanish Ministry MINECO
Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Subject
Pharmacology,Agronomy and Crop Science,Environmental Chemistry,Food Science,Analytical Chemistry