In the current study, 109 commercial nut samples were collected from different Korean markets and analyzed for the contamination of 5 different mycotoxins (aflatoxin, ochratoxin A, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, and T-2 toxin) using ELISA kits. The results revealed that the most frequently detected mycotoxin was zearalenone (n=36, 33%), followed by aflatoxin (n=31, 28.4%) and ochratoxin A (n=30, 27.5%). Deoxynivalenol and T-2 toxin were also detected in 22 (20.3%) samples, respectively. Among 109 nut samples, 33 samples (30.3%) were contaminated only with one kind of mycotoxin, whereas 43 samples had at least 2 kinds of mycotoxins. Two samples were contaminated with as many as 4 different mycotoxins, and they were both walnuts. Although the monitoring results revealed the amount of aflatoxin contamination was under the safety criteria, there is no current safety guideline for other kinds of mycotoxins or multiple contaminations in Korea. Therefore, further studies should be performed to reveal the distribution of mycotoxin in different foods and propose appropriate safety guidelines for Korean markets.

Mycotoxins, such as aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisin B1 (FMB1), ochratoxin A, T2 toxin, and zearalenone, are found in numerous vegetables. Mycotoxin accumulation in food and feed poses serious health risks to humans and animals because of carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, and toxic properties. In addition, mycotoxins cause large economic losses in commercial crop production, food and feed processing, and animal husbandry worldwide. In this study, an analytical method for the simultaneous analysis of the levels of AFB1, DON, and FMB1 in cow blood with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed and validated. AOZTM and Myco6in1TM multitoxin immunoaffinity columns and an OasisTM reversed-phase solid-phase extraction Hydrophilic-Lipophilic-Balanced columns were used to purify and concentrate the blood samples. Extracts that contained AFB1, DON, and FMB1 had average recovery of 64.0%, 98.0%, and 89.9%, respectively. In conclusion, we used LC-MS/MS to detect several important toxicological mycotoxins in cow blood. The multimycotoxin method, which detected and quantified the levels of AFB1, DON, and FMB1 can be used in animal pilot studies to monitor simultaneous exposure to major mycotoxins.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) and related trichothecene mycotoxins are extensively distributed in the cereal-based food and feed stuffs worldwide. Recent climate changes and global grain trade increased chance of exposure to more DON and related toxic metabolites in poorly managed production systems. Monitoring the biological and environmental exposures to the toxins are crucial in protecting human and animals from toxicities of the hazardous contaminants in food or feeds. Exposure biomarkers including urine DON itself are prone to shift to less harmful metabolites by intestinal microbiota and liver metabolic enzymes. De-epoxyfication of DON by gut microbes such as Eubacterium strain BBSH 797 and Eubacterium sp. DSM 11798 leads to more fecal secretion of DOM-1. By contrast, most of plant-derived DON-glucoside is also easily catabolized to free DON by gut microbes, which produces more burden to body. Phase 2 hepatic metabolism also contributes to the glucuronidation of DON, which can be useful urine biomarkers. However, chemical modification could be very typical depending on the anthropologic or genetic background, luminal bacteria, and hepatic metabolic enzyme susceptibility to the toxins in the diet. After toxin exposure, effect biomarkers are also important in estimating the linkage and mechanisms of foodborne diseases in human and animal population. Most prominent adverse effects are demonstrated in the DON-induced immunological and behavioral disorders. For instance, acutely elevated interleukin-8 from insulted gut exposed to dietaty DON is a dominant clinical biomarker in human and animals. Moreover, subchronic exposure to the toxins is associated with high levels of serum IgA, a biological mediator of IgA nephritis. In particular, anorexia monitoring using mouse models are recently developed to monitor the biological activities of DON-induced feed refusal. It is also mechanistically linked to alteration of serotoin and peptide YY, which are promising biomarkers of neurological disorders by the toxins. As animalalternative biomonitoring, huamn enterocyte-based assay has been developed and more realistic gut mimetic models would be useful in monitoring the effect biomarkers in resposne to toxic contaminants in the future investigations.

곡류에서 오염되는 곰팡이독소인 아플라톡신과 데옥시 니발레놀을 경기도 내 유통 곡류 및 그 가공품 205개 시료에서 분석하였다. 총아플라톡신은 16개 시료(8%)에서 0.01~27.88 μg/kg 농도로 검출되었고, 데옥시니발레놀은 56 개 시료(27%)에서 2.2~754.4 μg/kg 농도로 검출되었으며, 8개 시료는 아플라톡신과 데옥시니발레놀이 동시에 검출 되었다. 아플라톡신의 검출빈도는 건조옥수수와 부침가루 각각 33%, 튀김가루 25%, 수수 18%, 밀과 기장에서 각각 13%로 나타났고, 데옥시니발레놀의 검출빈도는 율무 85%, 밀 75%, 팝콘용옥수수가공품 60%, 수수 55%, 보리 44%와 건조옥수수 33%로 나타났다. 본 연구 결과를 기초로 한 곡류의 총아플라톡신과 데옥시니발레놀의 성인 1일 인체노출량은 0.80 (×) 10−3 μg/kg b.w./day과 0.18 μg/kg b.w./day 이었으며, 데옥시니발레놀의 성인 1일 인체노출량은 JECFA에서 제정된 PMTDI 1 μg/kg b.w./day 대비 18.5%에 해당하는 농도로 곡류 섭취를 통한 건강상의 위해 가능성은 미약한 것으로 평가되었다. 그러나 총아플라톡신이 가장 높게 검출된 건조옥수수 (27.88 μg/kg)와 데옥시니발레놀이 가장 높게 검출된 율무 (754.4 μg/kg)의 경우 총아플라톡신은 국내·외 규제 최고 농도를 초과한 수준이었으며, 데옥시니발레놀은 일부 국외 규제 최고농도를 초과한 수준이었다. 따라서 지구온난화로 우리나라의 기후조건이 곰팡이가 생육하기 좋은 환경으로 변해가므로 곡류제품이 원산지로 부터 소비에 이르기까지 생산·유통과정 중 어느 시점에서 곰팡이독소가 오염되는지에 대한 연구·관리가 더욱 활발히 수행되어야 할 것으로 판단된다.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEN) are mainly contaminated mycotoxins in feeds. The study was carried out to analyze and survey the contamination of DON and ZEN in one hundred thirteen samples of feeds. After cleaning all samples with immunoaffinity column, the mycotoxins were analysed by using high performance liquid chromatography/fluorescence with diode array detector (HPLC /FLD with DAD). The average recoveries of DON were 88.76 and 95.40% at the levels of 200 and 1,000 μg/kg and 87.09 and 98.40% of ZEN were recovered at the levels of 100 and 500 μg/kg, respectively. The limit of detection (LOD) were 6.0 and 3.0 μg/kg for DON and ZEN, respectively. The average concentrations of DON were 372.1, 324.0 and 990.9 μg/kg in chicken, pig and cattle feed, respectively. Those of ZEN were 76.1, 43.7 and 196.2 μg/kg for them, individually.

An isocratic high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for routine analysis of deoxynivalenol in noodles was validated and estimated the measurement uncertainty. Noodles (dried noodle and ramyeon) were analyzed by HPLC-ultraviolet detection using immunoaffinity column for clean-up. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were 7.5 μg/kg and 18.8 μg/kg, respectively. The calibration curve showed a good linearity, with correlation coefficients r² of 0.9999 in the concentration range from 20 to 500 μg/kg. Recoveries and Repeatabilities expressed as coefficients of variation (CV) spiked with 200 and 500 μg/kg were 82 ± 2.7% and 87 ± 1.3% in dried noodle, and 97 ± 1.6% and 91 ± 12.0% in ramyeon, respectively. The uncertainty sources in measurement process were identified as sample weight, final volume, and sample concentration in extraction volume as well as components such as standard stock solution, working standard solution, 5 standard solutions, calibration curve,matrix, and instrument. Deoxynivalenol concentration and expanded uncertainty in two matrixes spiked with 200 μg/kg and 500 μg/kg were estimated to be 163.8 ± 52.1 and 435.2 ± 91.6 μg/kg for dried noodle, and 194.3 ± 33.0 and 453.2 ± 91.1 μg/kg for ramyeon using a coverage factor of two which gives a level of statistical confidence with approximately 95%. The most influential component among uncertainty sources was the recovery of matrix, followed by calibration curve.

Nivalenol (NIV), deoxynivalenol (DON), T-2 toxin (T-2) and zearalenone (ZEN) are mycotoxins produced by some Fusarium species known to be very frequently contaminated in feed. The study for simultaneous analysis and contamination survey in animal feed carried out. All mycotoxins were analysed by using high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass with internal standard. The limits of detection (LOD) were 2.0 μg/kg,1.0 μg/kg, 1.0 μg/kg and 0.1 μg/kg for NIV, DON, T-2 and ZEN, respectively. Two hundred and thirty nine samples of feed were collected. The average concentration of DON was 212.3 μg/kg, 207.8 μg/kg and 812.1 μg/kg in chicken,pig and cattle feed, respectively. The average concentration of ZEN was 31.2 μg/kg, 35.6 μg/kg and 147.2 μg/kg for them, respectively. Especially, the levels of contamination for DON and ZEN were higher than those of NIV or T-2. And, the levels of contamination for four Fusarium mycotoxins in cattle feed appeared higher than those of pig and chicken feed. It was investigated that the high level of mycotoxin contamination in cattle feed was caused by corn gluten feed of ingredients for feed, mainly.

Deoxynivalenol (DON)에 오염된 보리의 가공과정에서 도정, 단순가열, 제빵 및 압출성형 등 공정에 의한 DON의 감소 및 파괴에 미치는 영향을 시험하였다 실험에 사용된 보리의 DON오염도는 2.08 ppm이었으며 보리로부터 분리한 DON 생성균은 Fusarium graminearum으로 생성능은 Czapek-Dox Broth 액체배지에서 평균 6.33 ppm이었다. 도정에 의한 DON의 제거 정도는 56.5%였으며 단순가열에 의한 감소는 3.8-32.7%로 나타났다. Extrusion에 의한 제거 정도는 53-59%였으며 제빵과정에서 최종 10.4%의 DON이 제거 된 것으로 나타나 가공 후 상당한 DON이 잔류되어있어 DON의 완전제거 할 수 있는 방법을 새로 개발할 필요가 있다고 사료된다.