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•Physical stable essential oil nanoemulsions are fabricated using microfludizer.•The chemical composition of essential oil impact antifungal activity.•The chemical composition of ...essential oil impact mycotoxin inhibitory activity.•Nanoemulsion platform enhances mycotoxin inhibitory activity of essential oils.
The influence of homogenization conditions on selected essential oil (thyme, lemongrass, cinnamon, peppermint, and clove)-in-water nanoemulsion formation and stability was investigated. Physically stable essential oil nanoemulsions could be fabricated by a microfludizer under optimized processing conditions (10,000 psi and 2 passes). The chemical compositions of EOs was characterized using GC–MS. The antifungal activity and mycotoxin inhibitory activity of essential oils in both bulk and nanoemulsion forms were determined using two isolates of Fusarium graminearum. The major chemical components of essential oil had a remarkable impact on long term physical stability, antifungal activity, and inhibition of mycotoxin production. With regard to inhibition of mycotoxin production, the mycotoxin inhibitory activity of essential oils was enhanced considerably in nanoemulsion form, which was attributed to greater solubility of the essential oils. It was also noted that the same essential oils exhibited significant differences in inhibition of mycotoxin production in the two isolates of F. graminearum.
•A compilation of in vivo studies about Fusarium mycotoxins in the last decade was performed.•The main Fusarium mycotoxins studied were identified.•The in vivo assays were classified regarding the ...proposed objective.•Aspects such as animal species, doses, application routine, exposure time, and results obtained were analyzed.
This review summarizes the information regarding the in vivo studies of Fusarium mycotoxins in the last decade. The most common studies are classified as subacute toxicity, subchronic toxicity, acute toxicity, toxicokinetic studies and teratogenicity in order of importance. The most used animals in in vivo studies are pigs, rats, chickens and mice. Fumonisin B1, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, nivalenol and T-2 toxin are the most studied fusarotoxins. Studies with combinations of mycotoxins are also frequent, deoxynivalenol generally being one of them. The predominant route of administration is oral, administered mostly in the form of naturally contaminated feed. Other administration routes also used are intraperitoneal, intravenous and subcutaneous. In vivo research on Fusarium mycotoxins has increased since 2010 highlighting the need for such studies in the field of food and feed safety.
The genus Fusarium includes numerous toxigenic species that are pathogenic to plants or humans, and are able to colonize a wide range of environments on earth. The genus comprises around 70 ...well-known species, identified by using a polyphasic approach, and as many as 300 putative species, according to phylogenetic species concepts; many putative species do not yet have formal names. Fusarium is one of the most economically important fungal genera because of yield loss due to plant pathogenic activity; mycotoxin contamination of food and feed products which often render them unaccep for marketing; and health impacts to humans and livestock, due to consumption of mycotoxins. Among the most important mycotoxins produced by species of Fusarium are the trichothecenes and the fumonisins. Fumonisins cause fatal livestock diseases and are considered potentially carcinogenic mycotoxins for humans, while trichothecenes are potent inhibitors of protein synthesis. This chapter summarizes the main aspects of morphology, pathology, and toxigenicity of the main Fusarium species that colonize different agricultural crops and environments worldwide, and cause mycotoxin contamination of food and feed.
Mycotoxin contamination of cereal grains causes well-recognized toxicities in animals and humans, but the fate of plant-bound masked mycotoxins in the gut is less well understood. Masked mycotoxins ...have been found to be stable under conditions prevailing in the small intestine but are rapidly hydrolyzed by fecal microbiota. This study aims to assess the hydrolysis of the masked mycotoxin deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside (DON3Glc) by the microbiota of different regions of the porcine intestinal tract. Intestinal digesta samples were collected from the jejunum, ileum, cecum, colon, and feces of 5 pigs and immediately frozen under anaerobic conditions. Sample slurries were prepared in M2 culture medium, spiked with DON3Glc or free deoxynivalenol (DON; 2 nmol/ml), and incubated anaerobically for up to 72 h. Mycotoxin concentrations were determined using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and the microbiota composition was determined using a quantitative PCR methodology. The jejunal microbiota hydrolyzed DON3Glc very slowly, while samples from the ileum, cecum, colon, and feces rapidly and efficiently hydrolyzed DON3Glc. No further metabolism of DON was observed in any sample. The microbial load and microbiota composition in the ileum were significantly different from those in the distal intestinal regions, whereas those in the cecum, colon and feces did not differ.
Results from this study clearly demonstrate that the masked mycotoxin DON3Glc is hydrolyzed efficiently in the distal small intestine and large intestine of pigs. Once DON is released, toxicity and absorption in the distal intestinal tract likely occur
This study further supports the need to include masked metabolites in mycotoxin risk assessments and regulatory actions for feed and food.
The development of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)/mass spectrometry (MS) methods for the simultaneous detection and quantification of a broad spectrum of mycotoxins has facilitated ...the screening of a larger number of samples for contamination with a wide array of less well-known "emerging" mycotoxins and other metabolites. In this study, 83 samples of feed and feed raw materials were analysed. All of them were found to contain seven to 69 metabolites. The total number of detected metabolites amounts to 139. Fusarium mycotoxins were most common, but a number of Alternaria toxins also occurred very often. Furthermore, two so-called masked mycotoxins (i.e., mycotoxin conjugates), namely deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside (75% positives) and zearalenone-4-sulfate (49% positives), were frequently detected. Although the observed median concentrations of the individual analytes were generally in the low μg/kg range, evaluating the toxicological potential of a given sample is difficult. Toxicity data on less well-known mycotoxins and other detected metabolites are notoriously scarce, as an overview on the available information on the most commonly detected metabolites shows. Besides, the possible synergistic effects of co-occurring substances have to be considered.
Global trade of agricultural commodities (e.g., animal feed) requires monitoring for fungal toxins. Also, little is known about masked and emerging toxins and metabolites. 1926 samples from 52 ...countries were analysed for toxins and metabolites. Of 162 compounds detected, up to 68 metabolites were found in a single sample. A subset of 1113 finished feed, maize and maize silage samples containing 57 compounds from 2012 to 2015 from 44 countries was investigated using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEN) and fumonisins showed large increases of annual medians in Europe. Within a region, distinct trends were observed, suggesting importance of local meteorology and cultivars. In 2015, median DON concentrations increased to 1400 μ g·kg - 1 in Austria, but were stable in Germany at 350 μ g·kg - 1 . In 2014, enniatins occurred at median concentrations of 250 μ g·kg - 1 in Europe, at levels similar to DON and ZEN. The latter were frequently correlated with DON-3-glucoside and ZEN-14-sulfate. Co-occurrence of regulated toxins was frequent with e.g., enniatins, and moniliformin. Correlation was observed between DON and DON-3-glucoside and with beauvericin. Results indicate that considerably more than 25% of agricultural commodities could be contaminated with mycotoxins as suggested by FAO, although this is at least partly due to the lower limits of detection in the current survey. Observed contamination percentages ranged from 7.1 to 79% for B trichothecenes and 88% for ZEN.
Emerging
and
mycotoxins gain more and more interest due to their frequent contamination of food and feed, although in vivo toxicity and toxicokinetic data are limited. Whereas the
mycotoxins ...beauvericin, moniliformin and enniatins particularly contaminate grain and grain-based products,
mycotoxins are also detected in fruits, vegetables and wines. Although contamination levels are usually low (µg/kg range), higher contamination levels of enniatins and tenuazonic acid may occasionally occur. In vitro studies suggest genotoxic effects of enniatins A, A1 and B1, beauvericin, moniliformin, alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether, altertoxins and stemphyltoxin-III. Furthermore, in vitro studies suggest immunomodulating effects of most emerging toxins and a reproductive health hazard of alternariol, beauvericin and enniatin B. More in vivo toxicity data on the individual and combined effects of these contaminants on reproductive and immune system in both humans and animals is needed to update the risk evaluation by the European Food Safety Authority. Taking into account new occurrence data for tenuazonic acid, the complete oral bioavailability, the low total body clearance in pigs and broiler chickens and the limited toxicity data, a health risk cannot be completely excluded. Besides, some less known
toxins, especially the genotoxic altertoxins and stemphyltoxin III, should be incorporated in risk evaluation as well.
Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of fungi poisonous for humans or animals which can be found on a great variety of food and feed commodities. Food is not necessarily safe just because the ...presence of well-known mycotoxins has been ruled out, as they might still be there in disguise. Mycotoxins may also occur in conjugated form, either soluble (masked mycotoxins) or incorporated into/associated with/attached to macromolecules (bound mycotoxins). These conjugated mycotoxins can emerge after metabolization by living plants, fungi and mammals or after food processing. Awareness of such altered forms of mycotoxins is increasing, but reliable analytical methods, measurement standards and occurrence and toxicity data are still lacking. In this paper currently known conjugated mycotoxins, their formation and determination are reviewed. For the latter, liquid chromatography-(tandem) mass spectrometry or ELISA methods are employed with or without conversion to the parent mycotoxins. Sample preparation to transform the bound forms into soluble forms can involve enzymatic or acidic/alkaline treatment. Especially mycotoxins which are in contact with living plants in the field are prone to be metabolized. This transformation process is not only important regarding food safety but also for the resistance of plants towards fungal-induced diseases, such as Fusarium head blight of wheat.
A sensitive and reliable multi-mycotoxin-based method was developed to identify and quantify several carcinogenic mycotoxins in human blood and urine, as well as edible animal tissues, including ...muscle and liver tissue from swine and chickens, using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). For the toxicokinetic studies with individual mycotoxins, highly sensitive analyte-specific LC–MS/MS methods were developed for rat plasma and urine. Sample purification consisted of a rapid ‘dilute and shoot’ approach in urine samples, a simple ‘dilute, evaporate and shoot’ approach in plasma samples and a ‘QuEChERS’ procedure in edible animal tissues. The multi-mycotoxin and analyte-specific methods were validated in-house: The limits of detection (LOD) for the multi-mycotoxin and analyte-specific methods ranged from 0.02 to 0.41 μg/kg (μg/L) and 0.01 to 0.19 μg/L, respectively, and limits of quantification (LOQ) between 0.10 to 1.02 μg/kg (μg/L) and 0.09 to 0.47 μg/L, respectively. Apparent recoveries of the samples spiked with 0.25 to 4 μg/kg (μg/L) ranged from 60.1% to 109.8% with relative standard deviations below 15%. The methods were successfully applied to real samples. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study carried out using a small group of patients from the Chinese population with hepatocellular carcinoma to assess their exposure to carcinogenic mycotoxins using biomarkers. Finally, the multi-mycotoxin method is a useful analytical method for assessing exposure to mycotoxins edible in animal tissues. The analyte-specific methods could be useful during toxicokinetic and toxicological studies.
Mycotoxins are toxic, secondary metabolites produced by fungi. They occur in a wide variety of food and feed commodities, and are of major public health concern because they are the most hazardous of ...all food and feed contaminants in terms of chronic toxicity. In the past decades, it has become clear that in mycotoxin-contaminated commodities, many structurally related compounds generated by plant metabolism, fungi or food processing coexist with their free mycotoxins, defined as modified mycotoxins. These modified xenobiotics might endanger animal and human health as they are possibly hydrolysed into their free toxins in the digestive tract of mammals, and may consequently contribute to an unexpected high toxicity. As modified toxins represent an emerging issue, it is not a surprise that for most toxicological tests data are scarce to non-existent. Therefore, there is a need to elucidate the disposition and kinetics of both free and modified mycotoxins in mammals to correctly interpret occurrence data and biomonitoring results. This review emphasizes the current knowledge on the metabolism of modified mycotoxins using in vitro and in vivo models.