Multiple mycotoxins detected in 2023 harvested wheat and barley

MULTIPLE MYCOTOXINS DETECTED IN 2023 HARVESTED WHEAT AND BARLEY

Jog Raj*, Hunor Farkaš, Svetlana Ćujić, Zdenka Jakovčević, and Marko Vasiljević PATENT CO, DOO., Vlade Ćetkovića 1A, 24 211, Mišićevo, Serbia. *Corresponding author: jog.raj@patent-co.com

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The aim of this study was to determine the level of contamination with mycotoxins in wheat and barley samples received from different regions of Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, and Hungary.

The samples were delivered to PATENT CO’s lab between August and October 2023.

In this survey, approximately 400 samples were analyzed for multiple mycotoxins by LC-MS/MS triple quadrupole (Agilent 6460 series) using a multi-mycotoxin method for the quantification of all the mycotoxins present, including:

Aflatoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2) α-zearalenol (α-ZEL), β-zearalenol (β-ZEL), zearalanone (ZAN), and zearalenone (ZEN) Diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS) HT-2 toxin and T-2 toxin 3-acetyl deoxynivalenol (3-ADON), 15-acetyl deoxynivalenol (15-ADON), and deoxynivalenol (DON) Nivalenol (NIV) Fumonisins (FB1, FB2 and FB3) Fusaric acid (FA) Moniliformin (MON) Ochratoxin A (OTA) Beauvericin (BEA) Enniatin A (ENA), enniatin A1 (ENA1), enniatin B (ENB), and Enniatin B1 (ENB1).

The results of the level of mycotoxin contamination for each sample type are shown as follows.

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MYCOTOXINS IN WHEAT In 2023, 95% of the wheat samples from Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, and Hungary were contaminated with more than one mycotoxin.

4% of the samples did not contain any mycotoxin, whereas 1% of the samples were contaminated with one mycotoxin (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Number of mycotoxins per sample detected in wheat samples harvested in Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, and Hungary in 2023.

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1

Not detected 1 Mycotoxin 95

>1 Mycotoxin

Table 1 shows that Fusarium-related mycotoxins were the most predominant in 2023 harvested wheat samples from Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, and Hungary.

DON, with an average of 1322 ppb, was detected in 66% samples.

Among emerging mycotoxins: FA was detected in 61% of the samples.

ENNB, ENN B1, ENNA1, and ENN A were detected in 95%, 88%, 78%, and 48% of the samples, respectively.

BEA was detected in 61% of the samples.

MON was detected in 9% of the samples.

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Table 1. Mycotoxin contamination levels (ppb) in wheat samples from Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, and Hungary harvested in 2023.

Average (ppb)

Maximum (ppb)

Minimum (ppb)

Number of positives (%)

MON

9

27

4

9

DON

1322

20801

39

66

FA

146

2515

6

61

3-ADON

60

197

20

10

15-ADON

174

1038

20

34

DAS

5

8

3

4

HT-2 toxin

38

89

11

12

FB1

40

44

36

3

T-2 toxin

53

262

11

13

ZEN

119

415

16

14

ENN B

335

4493

1

95

ENN B1

76

699

1

88

BEA

57

963

1

61

ENN A1

37

364

1

78

ENN A

18

115

1

48

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MYCOTOXINS IN BARLEY In 2023, only 2% of the barley samples from Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, and Hungary were not contaminated with any mycotoxin whereas 98% of the samples were found to contain more than one mycotoxin (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Number of mycotoxins per sample detected in barley samples harvested in Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, and Hungary in 2023.

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0

Not detected 1 Mycotoxin 98

>1 Mycotoxin

Table 2 shows that Fusarium-related mycotoxins were the most predominant in the 2023 harvested barley samples.

DON, with an average of 845 ppb, was detected in 54% samples, FB1 in 4% and T-2 toxin in 24% of the barley samples.

Among emerging mycotoxins: FA was detected in 34% of the samples.

BEA was detected in 75% of the samples.

ENNs were detected in almost all the samples.

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Table 2. Mycotoxin contamination levels (ppb) in barley samples from Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, and Hungary harvested in 2023.

Average (ppb)

Maximum (ppb)

Minimum (ppb)

Number of positives (%)

MON

4

4

3

2

DON

845

18029

21

54

FA

76

699

6

34

3-ADON

80

317

22

10

15-ADON

136

1493

21

29

FB1

333

1016

27

4

T-2 toxin

49

440

10

24

FB3

41

54

29

2

ZEN

1026

13031

19

15

FB2

137

179

95

2

ENN B

360

4272

1

98

ENN B1

105

609

1

93

BEA

18

315

1

75

ENN A1

44

354

1

88

ENN A

17

122

1

60

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CONCLUSIONS In 2023, the wheat harvested in Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, and Hungary was contaminated with more than one mycotoxin.

DON and emerging mycotoxins FA, MON, BEA and ENNs were the predominant mycotoxins detected in wheat samples.

In 2023, 98% of the barley samples from Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, and Hungary were contaminated with more than one mycotoxin.

DON and emerging mycotoxins such as FA, MON, BEA and ENNs were the predominant mycotoxins detected in most of the barley samples.

The co-occurrence of more than one mycotoxin can lead to additive or synergistic effects when fed to sensitive animal species (swine and poultry, amongst others).

This suggests that technologies are required for the control of mixtures of such contaminants in feedstuffs predominantly based on wheat and barley to minimize their impact on animal development.

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