Nji Queenta Ngum, Mwanza Mulunda
Food Security and Safety Focus Area, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Mmabatho, South Africa.
Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Mmabatho, South Africa.
Front Fungal Biol. 2024 Dec 2;5:1426782. doi: 10.3389/ffunb.2024.1426782. eCollection 2024.
The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) reported that numerous diseases can be traced back to the consumption of unsafe food contaminated with mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by toxigenic filamentous fungi. Mycotoxins reported to be of socio-economic concerns include aflatoxins, fumonisins, zearalenone, ochratoxin A, and deoxynivalenol. These mycotoxins are frequent contaminants of maize especially in the face of climate change and global food insecurity. South Africa is a leading exporter of maize in Africa, hence, it is crucial to evaluate exposure risks with respect to mycotoxin contamination of maize for consumers' safety.
In total, 752 post-harvest maize samples collected from silos over a 3-year period were analysed using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for the occurrence of mycotoxins.
The overall mean values for all the quantified mycotoxins were within the South Africa regulatory limit as well as the individual samples, apart from DON and FB mycotoxins with 5% and 1% samples, respectively, above the limit. Citrinin was quantified in South African commercial maize for the first time. The presence of major mycotoxins in South African commercial maize even within safety limits is of public health concern, hence, continuous monitoring and evaluation is recommended.
联合国粮食及农业组织（粮农组织）报告称，许多疾病可追溯到食用受霉菌毒素污染的不安全食品。霉菌毒素是产毒丝状真菌产生的次生代谢产物。据报告，具有社会经济影响的霉菌毒素包括黄曲霉毒素、伏马毒素、玉米赤霉烯酮、赭曲霉毒素A和脱氧雪腐镰刀菌烯醇。这些霉菌毒素经常污染玉米，尤其是在气候变化和全球粮食不安全的背景下。南非是非洲主要的玉米出口国，因此，为了消费者安全，评估玉米霉菌毒素污染的暴露风险至关重要。
在3年时间里，从筒仓收集了752份收获后的玉米样本，采用液相色谱 - 串联质谱法（LC-MS/MS）分析霉菌毒素的存在情况。
除脱氧雪腐镰刀菌烯醇（DON）和伏马毒素（FB）外，所有定量霉菌毒素的总体平均值以及各个样本均在南非监管限值范围内，其中分别有5%和1%的样本中DON和FB霉菌毒素超过限值。桔青霉素首次在南非商业玉米中被定量。即使在安全限值内，南非商业玉米中主要霉菌毒素的存在仍令人担忧公共健康，因此，建议持续监测和评估。
