Development of a Gene-Based Soybean-Origin Discrimination Method Using Allele-Specific Polymerase Chain Reaction.

A low soybean self-sufficiency rate in South Korea has caused a high import dependence and considerable price variation between domestic and foreign soybeans, causing the false labeling of foreign soybeans as domestic. Conventional soybean origin discrimination methods prevent a single-grain analysis and rely on the presence or absence of several compounds or concentration differences. This limits the origin discrimination of mixed samples, demonstrating the need for a method that analyzes individual grains. Therefore, we developed a method for origin discrimination using genetic analysis. The whole-genome sequencing data of the Williams 82 reference cultivar and 15 soybean varieties cultivated in South Korea were analyzed to identify the dense variation blocks (dVBs) with a high single-nucleotide polymorphism density. The PCR primers were prepared and validated for the insertion-deletion (InDel) sequences of the dVBs to discriminate each soybean variety. Our method effectively discriminated domestic and foreign soybean varieties, eliminating their false labeling.

Incidence and levels of deoxynivalenol, fumonisins and zearalenone contaminants in animal feeds used in Korea in 2012.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the occurrence and levels of deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisins B1 and B2 (FBs), and zearalenone (ZEN) contaminants in animal feeds used in Korea in 2012. Contamination with DON was observed in 91.33% and 53.33% in compound feeds and feed ingredients, respectively. Among compound feeds, poultry layer feed (laying) exhibited the highest contaminant level of 1.492 mg/kg. FBs contaminants were present in compound feeds and feed ingredients at 93.33% and 83.33%, respectively. Most poultry broiler (early) feeds were highly contaminated with FBs, and one of these feeds detected the level as 12.823 mg/kg as the highest level. The levels of ZEN in compound feeds and feed ingredients were 71.33% and 47%, respectively. Ninety-eight percent of compound feeds for cattle were contaminated with ZEN, and the highest contamination level of 0.405 mg/kg was observed in cattle fatting feeds.

Occurrence of ochratoxin A in Korean red paprika and factors to be considered in prevention strategy.

A large amount-260,000 tons-of red paprika is consumed annually in Korea, where the people prefer hot and pungent to sweet foods. Concern has recently grown among consumers over contamination of paprika powder by mycotoxins; contamination can occur at any stage from pre-harvest to drying, storage, grinding, and eventually transport to the retail market. This study had dual aims: to investigate the current level of contamination of hot peppers by ochratoxin A and to identify the critical control points in the food chain. We measured the ochratoxin A (OTA) content of 200 samples from various sources including supermarkets, an online shopping mall, small stakeholder mills, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)-implemented factories, and an import company. Mycotoxin was determined using immunoaffinity column cleanup/HPLC quantification as well as strong anion exchange cleanup/stable isotope dilution assay. Monitoring revealed that approximately 30% of red paprika samples were OTA-positive, indicating a need to establish a maximum level for regulation. We selected two model factories that had adopted HACCP in different ways, and compared data in order to develop guidelines for alleviation of mitigation of the mycotoxin contamination.