Research Publications (Food Safety)

Publication date: 2 September 2015
, Volume 208
Author(s): Loukas Kanetis , Stefanos Testempasis , Vlasios Goulas , Stylianos Samuel , Charalampos Myresiotis , George S. Karaoglanidis

Publication date: 1 January 2016
, Volume 190
Author(s): Yuyan Zhu , Jie Yu , Jeffrey K. Brecht , Tianjia Jiang , Xiaolin Zheng

Ok, Hyun Ee et al.

To evaluate the effective implantation of a specific protective culture of Penicillium nalgiovense, a real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) using SYBR Green methodology was developed. Two specific primers were designed on the basis of the published partial sequences of the Internal Transcribe Spacer (ITS)1–5.8S-ITS2 region of various strains of P. nalgiovense. Using the developed method, a PCR product of 51 bp with a T

Publication date: 1 January 2016
, Volume 190
Author(s): Seonghee Ahn , Suyoung Lee , Joonhee Lee , Byungjoo Kim

Several Fusarium species produce the polyketide mycotoxin zearalenone (ZEA), a causative agent of hyperestrogenic syndrome in animals that is often found in F. graminearum-infected cereals in temperate regions. The ZEA biosynthetic cluster genes PKS4, PKS13, ZEB1, and ZEB2 encode a reducing polyketide synthase, a nonreducing polyketide synthase, an isoamyl alcohol oxidase, and a transcription factor, respectively.

An 8-week feeding trial was conducted to examine effects of wheat naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins (deoxynivalenol, DON 41 mg·kg−1) on growth performance and selected health indices of red tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus × O. mossambicus; initial weight = 4.3 g/fish).

The intestinal epithelium is the first barrier against food contaminants. Zearalenone (ZEN) is an estrogenic mycotoxin that was identified as a common contaminant of cereal grains and food and feedstuffs. In the present study, we have investigated the in vitro effects of ZEN and some of its metabolites (α-ZOL, β-ZOL) in concentrations of 10–100 µM on a swine epithelial cell line: Intestinal porcine epithelial cells (IPEC-1).

Scope
: In this study human exposure to the mycotoxin ochratoxin A (OTA) and its thermal degradation product 2’R-ochratoxin A (2’R-OTA, previously named as 14R-Ochratoxin A [22]) through coffee consumption was assessed. LC-MS/MS and the dried blood spot (DBS) technique were used for the analysis of blood samples from coffee and non-coffee drinkers (n = 50), and food frequency questionnaires were used to document coffee consumption.

Publication date: 3 August 2015
, Volume 206
Author(s): Yuanyuan Zong , Boqiang Li , Shiping Tian

A high-resolution liquid chromatography-Orbitrap mass spectrometry (LC-Orbitrap MS) method was developed for simultaneous determination of 20 Fusarium toxins (nivalenol, fusarenon-X, deoxynivalenol, 3-acetyl deoxynivalenol, 15-acetyl deoxynivalenol, HT-2 toxin, T-2 toxin, neosolaniol, diacetoxyscirpenol, fumonisin B1, fumonisin B2, fumonisin B3, fumonisin A1, fumonisin A2, fumonisin A3, zearalenone, α-zearalenol, β-zearalenol, α-zearalanol, and β-zearalanol) in cereals.

Publication date: 15 November 2015
, Volume 187
Author(s): Karim C. Piacentini , Geovana D. Savi , Maria E.V. Pereira , Vildes M. Scussel

Publication date: June 2015
, Volume 72
Author(s): Ana García-Moraleja , Guillermina Font , Jordi Mañes , Emilia Ferrer

In chickens, the effect of mycotoxins, especially fumonisins (FB), in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is not well documented. Thus, this study in broiler chicks determined the effects of consuming diets prepared with Fusarium verticillioides culture material containing FB on intestinal gene expression and on the sphinganine (Sa)/sphingosine (So) ratio (Sa/So; a biomarker of FB effect due to disruption of sphingolipid metabolism).

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by toxigenic fungi contaminating foods and feeds in pre-, post-harvest and processing, and represent a great concern worldwide, both for the economic implications and for the health of the consumers. Many environmental conditions are involved in the regulation of mycotoxin biosynthesis.

Ochratoxins are a mycotoxin family frequently found in agricultural commodities worldwide and pose a potential health risk to humans and animals. To obtain large amounts of high-purity ochratoxins for food safety monitoring and toxicological research, a novel and effective method was established for simultaneous purification of ochratoxin A (OTA) and ochratoxin B (OTB) from a wheat culture inoculated with an ochratoxin-producing Aspergillus strain.

This review highlights developments in the determination of mycotoxins over a period between mid-2013 and mid-2014. It continues in the format of the previous articles of this series, emphasising on analytical methods to determine aflatoxins, Alternaria toxins, ergot alkaloids, fumonisins, ochratoxins, patulin, trichothecenes and zearalenone.

Publication date: February 2015
Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 76
Author(s): Laura-Ana Corcuera , Ariane Vettorazzi , Leire Arbillaga , Noemí Pérez , Ana Gloria Gil , Amaya Azqueta , Elena González-Peñas , Jose Antonio García-Jalón , Adela López de Cerain

Publication date: 15 June 2015
, Volume 177
Author(s): Natalia Arroyo-Manzanares , José F. Huertas-Pérez , Laura Gámiz-Gracia , Ana M. García-Campaña

Ochratoxin A (OTA), which is found in a variety of food products, is associated with the development of nephrotoxicity and carcinogenicity in rats and has raised public health concerns. A previous study in our laboratory indicated that OTA exposure induced cytotoxicity by decreasing global DNA methylation in vitro. However, the relationship between OTA-induced nephrotoxicity and DNA methylation changes in vivo remains unclear.

Publication date: March 2015
, Volume 69
Author(s): A. Garvín , R. Ibarz , A. Ibarz

Mycotoxins are low molecular weight fungal metabolites that pose a threat as toxic contaminants of food products, thereby necessitating their effective monitoring and control. Microplate ELISA can be used for this purpose, but this method is characteristically time consuming, with a duration extending to several hours. This report proposes a variant of the ELISA method for the detection and quantification of three mycotoxins, ochratoxin A, aflatoxin B1 and zearalenone, in the kinetic regime.

Chitosan beads were prepared by the method of inverse suspension cross-linking characterized and applied to remove patulin from aqueous solution. Batch adsorption experiments were performed to evaluate the optimum adsorption conditions and reusability. The results showed that chitosan beads were effective in removing patulin from aqueous solution. The maximum adsorption capacity of chitosan beads for patulin was 626.4 μg/g at pH 7.0, 40C for 24 h.

The aim of this study was to characterize 27 feed additives marketed as mycotoxin binders and to screen them for their in vitro zearalenone (ZEN) adsorption. Firstly, 27 mycotoxin binders, commercially available in Belgium and The Netherlands, were selected and characterized.