Investigation of 12 mycotoxins in wheat grains from four provinces of China in 2019

Abstract

ObjectiveTo investigate and analyze the contamination of 12 mycotoxins in unprocessed wheat grain samples from four provinces of China in 2019.MethodsA total of 289 wheat grain samples harvested in 2019 from He'nan, Hebei, Anhui and Shandong provinces of China were collected and analyzed for 12 kinds of mycotoxins, including 8 Fusarium toxins and 4 aflatoxins by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS).ResultsDeoxynivalenol (DON) was the predominant mycotoxin in wheat samples, and the positive rate and the average level of DON were 95.5% (276/289) and 135.9 μg/kg. While the positive rates and the average levels of 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (15-Ac-DON) and 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3-Ac-DON) were 37.4% (108/289) and 4.4 μg/kg, 36.7% (106/289) and 5.2 g/kg, respectively. The positive rates and the average levels of the rest of 8 Fusarium toxins and 4 aflatoxins were relatively low. There was no significant difference in mycotoxins contamination levels among the four provinces. Among 289 wheat samples, 59.9% (173/289) samples were simultaneously contaminated with more than 2 mycotoxins with DON and its derivatives 15-Ac-DON and/or 3-Ac-DON being the frequent combination.ConclusionDON is the predominant mycotoxin in wheat samples in China and the incidence of co-occurrence of DON and its derivatives, 3-Ac-DON and/or 15-Ac-DON are high. The positive rate and contamination levels of aflatoxins and other Fusarium toxins are relatively low. These results suggest that there should be a continuous monitoring for the contamination of fusarium mycotoxins, especially DON and its derivatives, in wheat in China.

Keywords

• wheat
• mycotoxins
• contaminants
• high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry