Journal
FOOD CONTROL
Volume 60, Issue -, Pages 196-204Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2015.07.032
Keywords
Liquid chromatography tandem mass-spectrometry; Mycotoxins; Alternaria toxins; Occurrence; Processed food
Categories
Funding
- Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Alternaria toxins are mycotoxins that can contaminate cereals, oilseeds and various fruits and vegetables such as apples, tomatoes, citrus fruits and olives. The fungi can grow at low temperatures, thus causing spoilage even during transport and storage. Currently, there are relatively little occurrence data on Altemaria toxins in food products and in the Netherlands most data are limited to the presence of altemariol (AOH) and alternariol methyl ether CAME) in cereals. Tenuazonic acid (TeA), tentoxin (TEN) and altenuene (ALT) have been recently identified by the Standing Committee on the food Chain and animal health as Alternaria toxins of concern. A survey (95 samples) was conducted in the Netherlands in 2013. The aim was to screen the levels of the five Alternaria toxins in wine (n = 5), fresh apples (n = 11), apple juices (n = 7), fresh tomatoes (n = 19), tomato sauces (n = 8), fresh citrus (n = 11), dried figs (n = 5), olives (n = 10), sunflower seeds (n = 5) and cereals (n = 14). Multi-mycotoxin methods for the analysis of mycotoxins were adapted for this purpose. Their performance characteristics were assessed and were as follows: recoveries and precision ranged from 85 to 112% and from 4 to 20%, respectively. LOQs were between 1.5 and 5.0 mu g kg(-1). In the subsequent survey, AOH, AME, TeA, and TEN were detected in one or more food commodities, while ALT was not detected in any of the samples. TeA was found in 27% of the samples and at relatively high concentrations in sunflower seeds, tomato sauces and dried figs (up to 2345 mu g kg(-1)). Altemaria toxins occurred regularly in cereals, tomato sauces, figs, wine and sunflower seeds. Only incidental occurrence of the Alternaria toxins was observed in fresh apples, fresh citrus fruits, fresh tomatoes and olives. (c) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available