Occurrence of mycotoxins in Southern Europe

Contamination of feed materials with mycotoxins is an important issue for farmers, as dietary exposure to these toxins may cause acute or chronic intoxication in animals, resulting in major economic losses. Although prevention methods to avoid mycotoxin contamination on the field prior to harvest, during harvesting or storage have been developed, it is currently not possible to eliminate the risk of a mycotoxin contamination entirely. Here we present a survey over a 4.5 year period that was performed to evaluate the incidence of mycotoxins in feed materials and compounded feed samples originating from Southern European countries, including Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and Cyprus. The 416 samples received were tested for the most relevant mycotoxins that are found in feed materials, such as aflatoxins, zearalenone (ZEA), type B trichothecenes (deoxynivalenol and acetyldeoxynivalenol), type A trichothecenes (T-2 toxin and HT-2 toxin), fumonisins and ochratoxin A (OTA), by two different methods, a commercial ELISA and by validated HPLC methods. The Fusarium mycotoxins (type B trichothecenes, ZEA and fumonisins) were the major contaminants. Average concentrations of type B trichothecenes were 365 mu g/kg or 445 mu g/kg analysed by HPLC or ELISA, respectively. In the case of zearalenone the average concentration was 27 mu g/kg by ELISA or 32.5 mu g/kg by HPLC. Fumonisin contamination was found with an average of 1,411 mu g/kg by HPLC or 6,260 mu g/kg by ELISA. Aflatoxins and OTA as well as the type A trichothecenes were detected less frequently and the average concentration was lower in comparison to the other mycotoxins tested. The average concentration of aflatoxins, OTA and the type A trichothecenes was 1 mu g/kg or 3 mu g/kg, 4 mu g/kg or 2 mu g/kg, 2 mu g/kg or 18 mu g/kg, respectively, by HPLC or ELISA analysis.