Multiple mycotoxins detected in 2023 harvested wheat and barley

Analysis of the level of mycotoxin contamination in wheat and barley samples from different regions of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Hungary.

Jog Raj^*, Hunor Farkaš, Svetlana Ćujić, Zdenka Jakovčević, and Marko Vasiljević

PATENT CO, DOO., Vlade Ćetkovića 1A, 24 211, Mišićevo, Serbia.
*Autor correspondiente: [email protected]

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-acetil deoxynivalenol (3-ADON), 15-acetil 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.