Initial glimpse of mycotoxin levels in 2022 harvested corn from Southeast Europe

The aim of the present study was to screen corn samples received from different regions of Southeast Europe.

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

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

⇰ The corn samples from Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia were delivered to PATENT CO’s lab between September 2022 and November 2022.

In this survey, 210 corn samples were analysed for multiple mycotoxins by LC-MS/MS triple quadrupole (Agilent 6460 series) using a multi-mycotoxin method for quantification of all mycotoxins present. These included:

⇰ 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), Deoxynivalenol (DON).
⇰ Nivalenol (NIV).

⇰ Fumonisins: FB₁, FB₂, and FB₃.
⇰ Fusaric acid (FA).
⇰ Moniliformin (MON).
⇰ Ochratoxin A (OTA).
⇰ Beauvericin (BEA).
⇰ Enniatins: Enniatin A (ENA), Enniatin A₁ (ENA1), Enniatin B (ENB), and Enniatin B₁ (ENB₁).

THE COMBINED RESULTS FOR SERBIA, BOSNIA AND CROATIA ARE SHOWN AS FOLLOWS:

In 2022, 7% of the corn samples from Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia were not contaminated with mycotoxins whereas 93% samples were found to contain more one or more than one mycotoxin (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Number of mycotoxins per corn sample from Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia.

Table 1. Mycotoxin contamination levels (ppb) in corn samples from Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia in 2022.

⇰ Fumonisins were the dominant mycotoxins detected in 2022 harvested corn from Southeast Europe.
⇰ Fusaric acid was detected in 83% of the samples, whereas FB₁, FB₂ and FB₃ were detected in 79%, 68%, and 53% of the samples, respectively.
⇰ AFB₁ was detected in 41% of the corn samples with an average of 121 ppb.
⇰ DON appeared in 11%, OTA in 13% and MON in 34% of the corn samples.
⇰ Among emerging mycotoxins Beauvericin was detected in 68% of the corn samples.

CONCLUSIONS

In the 2022 harvested corn from Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia, 93% of corn samples were contaminated with one or more than one mycotoxin.

⇰ Fumonisins, Aflatoxins and Beauvericin were the most prevalent mycotoxins detected in these samples using LC-MS/MS.

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

This highlights the need for technologies to control mixtures of such contaminants in feedstuffs predominantly based on corn to minimize impacts on animal development.