Natural Occurrence of Regulated and Emerging Mycotoxins in Wheat Grains and Assessment of the Risks from Dietary Mycotoxins Exposure in China

Xiaofeng Ji; Canghong Jin; Yingping Xiao; Meihua Deng; Wen Wang; Wentao Lyu; Jiapeng Chen; Rui Li; Yan Li; Hua Yang

doi:10.3390/toxins15060389

Natural Occurrence of Regulated and Emerging Mycotoxins in Wheat Grains and Assessment of the Risks from Dietary Mycotoxins Exposure in China

Toxins (Basel). 2023 Jun 9;15(6):389. doi: 10.3390/toxins15060389.

Authors

Xiaofeng Ji¹, Canghong Jin², Yingping Xiao¹, Meihua Deng¹, Wen Wang¹, Wentao Lyu¹, Jiapeng Chen², Rui Li¹, Yan Li³, Hua Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Institute of Agro-Product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China.
² School of Computer and Computing Science, Hangzhou City University, Hangzhou 310015, China.
³ Department of Veterinary Medicine, Institute of Preventive Veterinary Sciences, College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.

Abstract

Wheat grains are susceptible to contamination with various natural mycotoxins including regulated and emerging mycotoxins. This study surveyed the natural presence of regulated mycotoxins, such as deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEN), and emerging mycotoxins such as beauvericin (BEA), enniatins (ENNs such as ENA, ENA1, ENB, ENB1) and Alternaria mycotoxins (i.e., alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), alternariol (AOH), tenuazonic acid (TeA), tentoxin (TEN), and altenuene (ALT)) in wheat grains randomly collected from eight provinces across China in 2021. The results revealed that each wheat grain sample was detected with at least one type of mycotoxin. The detection rates of these mycotoxins ranged from 7.1% to 100%, with the average occurrence level ranging from 1.11 to 921.8 µg/kg. DON and TeA were the predominant mycotoxins with respect to both prevalence and concentration. Approximately 99.7% of samples were found to contain more than one toxin, and the co-occurrence of ten toxins (DON + ZEN + ENA + ENA1 + ENB + ENB1 + AME + AOH + TeA + TEN) was the most frequently detected combination. The dietary exposure to different mycotoxins among Chinese consumers aged 4-70 years was as follows: 0.592-0.992 µg/kg b.w./day for DON, 0.007-0.012 µg/kg b.w./day for ZEN, 0.0003-0.007 µg/kg b.w./day for BEA and ENNs, 0.223-0.373 µg/kg b.w./day for TeA, and 0.025-0.041 µg/kg b.w./day for TEN, which were lower than the health-based guidance values for each mycotoxin, with the corresponding hazard quotient (HQ) being far lower than 1, implying a tolerable health risk for Chinese consumers. However, the estimated dietary exposure to AME and AOH was in the range of 0.003-0.007 µg/kg b.w./day, exceeding the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) value of 0.0025 µg/kg b.w./day, demonstrating potential dietary risks for Chinese consumers. Therefore, developing practical control and management strategies is essential for controlling mycotoxins contamination in the agricultural systems, thereby ensuring public health.

Keywords: dietary exposure; emerging mycotoxins; regulated mycotoxins; wheat grains.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Alternaria
China
Dietary Exposure / adverse effects
Food Contamination / analysis
Mycotoxins* / analysis
Tandem Mass Spectrometry / methods
Tenuazonic Acid / analysis
Triticum
Zearalenone* / analysis

Substances

Mycotoxins
Zearalenone
Tenuazonic Acid

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Program on Key Research Project of China (2019YFE0103900) as well as the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under Grant Agreement No 861917—SAFFI, Zhejiang Provincial Key Research and Development Program of China (NO. 2021C02060), and the Special Fund for Public Projects of Zhejiang province (LGN20C170004).