Natural Co-Occurrence of Multiple Mycotoxins in Unprocessed Oats Grown in Ireland with Various Production Systems.

The natural co-occurrence of 42 mycotoxins was investigated in unprocessed oat grains grown in Ireland. The sample set included a total of 208 oat crops harvested during 2015-2016 and produced using conventional, organic, or gluten free farming systems. A range of different toxins was identified, including the major type A (neosolaniol, HT-2 and T-2 toxins, T-2 triol, and T-2-glucoside, co-occurring in 21 samples) and B trichothecenes (deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, and deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside), enniatins (B1, B, and A1, co-occurring in 12 samples), as well as beauvericin, alternariol, mycophenolic acid, and sterigmatocystin. The influences of sowing season, year, and production system were investigated, eventually indicating that the latter factor may have a higher impact than others on the production of certain mycotoxins in oats. The most frequently quantified compounds were HT-2 (51%) and T-2 (41%) toxins, with gluten free oats containing significantly lower concentrations of HT-2 compared to conventionally produced oats. Although the prevalence and concentrations of mycotoxin found in oat samples in this study should be substantially reduced by processing. However, as mycotoxin occurrence is clearly influenced by multiple factors, controlled field trials should be carried out to define optimal agronomic practices and mitigate mycotoxin production. Furthermore, this work highlights the need for regularly testing cereal-based foods with multi-residue analytical methods with wider specificities than the traditionally screened and regulated toxins, to generate knowledge on the occurrence of several mycotoxins that are, to date, rarely investigated.

Determination of 42 mycotoxins in oats using a mechanically assisted QuEChERS sample preparation and UHPLC-MS/MS detection.

A method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of 42 mycotoxins in oats. The method includes all the mycotoxins listed under Commission Regulation 1881/2006 and Commission Recommendation 165/2013, the emerging mycotoxins (beauvericin, alternariol, alternariol-methyl-ether and enniatins), and two masked metabolites, namely deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside and T-2-glucoside. The method also focuses on a wide range of analytes of toxicological interest. The sample preparation involved extraction with an aqueous acetic acid solution and acetonitrile, followed by QuEChERS with mechanically assisted vibrational shaking. No further clean-up steps were employed, and analysis was performed using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). Trueness ranged between 78% and 158%, while precision ranged from 1.7% to 49.9% under within-laboratory reproducibility conditions. Beside the high degree of accuracy and sample throughput provided, the method can be applied to a large number of compounds currently not regulated, thus generating knowledge and for risk assessment purposes.

Simultaneous determination of aflatoxins, T-2 and HT-2 toxins, and fumonisins in cereal-derived products by QuEChERS extraction coupled with LC-MS/MS.

A fast, easy, and cheap method for the simultaneous determination and quantification of aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1, G2), T-2 and HT-2 toxins, and fumonisins (B1, B2) in cereal-derived products was developed. This method involved a quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) extraction coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The method validation was performed by analyzing samples spiked at four levels, and the recoveries ranged from 83.6 to 102.9%, whereas the maximum values of repeatability and within-laboratory reproducibility were 14.3 and 15.7% following the performance criteria set by the European legislation. The method was then applied for the analysis of 21 cereal-derived products purchased on the Italian market, which were correctly packaged and labeled as intended for human consumption. The co-occurrence of more than one mycotoxin in the analyzed samples could represent a risk for consumers, and the described method could be a valid alternative for their simultaneous detection in the framework of official control. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.