Mycotoxin contamination of cereal grain commodities in relation to climate in North West Europe

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate mycotoxin contamination of cereal grain commodities for feed and food production in North Western Europe during the last two decades, including trends over time and co-occurrence between toxins, and to assess possible effects of climate on the presence of mycotoxins. For these aims, analytical results related to mycotoxin contamination of cereal grain commodities, collected in the course of national monitoring programmes in Finland, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands during a 20-year period, were gathered. Historical observational weather data, including daily relative humidity, rainfall and temperature, were obtained from each of these four countries. In total 6382 records, referring to individual sample results for mycotoxin concentrations (one or more toxins) in cereal grains were available. Most records referred to wheat, barley, maize and oats. The most frequently analysed mycotoxins were deoxynivalenol, 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, T-2 toxin, HT-2 toxin and zearalenone. Deoxynivalenol had the highest overall incidence of 46%, and was mainly found in wheat, maize and oats. Mycotoxins that showed co-occurrence were: deoxynivalenol and 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol in oats; deoxynivalenol and zearalenone in maize and wheat; and T-2 toxin and HT-2 toxin in oats. The presence of both deoxynivalenol and zearalenone in wheat increased with higher temperatures, relative humidity and rainfall during cultivation, but the presence of nivalenol was negatively associated with most of these climatic factors. The same holds for both nivalenol and deoxynivalenol in oats. This implies that climatic conditions that are conducive for one toxin may have a decreasing effect on the other. The presence of HT-2 toxin in oats showed a slight decreasing trends over time, but significant trends for other toxins showed an increasing presence during the last two decades. It is therefore useful to continue monitoring of mycotoxins. Obtained results can be used for development of predictive models for presence of mycotoxins in cereal grains.

Keywords:

• statistical analysis
• mycotoxins
• mycotoxins – Fusarium
• mycotoxins – trichothecenes
• cereals
• cereals and grain

Acknowledgements

The authors kindly thank the national funders of the research project EMTOX, including Scandinavia (The Nordic Innovation Centre, The Norwegian Research Council), the Netherlands (the Dutch Ministry for Economic Affairs, Agriculture & Innovation) and Cyprus (The Research Promotion Foundation of Cyprus). Also, the project Advisory Board, including M. Mengelers (The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority), A. Kurppa (MTT), E. Morrisson (DNV) and R. Chrysafi (Research Promotion Foundation of Cyprus) are acknowledged. Oleif Elen, Bioforsk, Norway, is thanked for calculating the climatic weather parameters for Norway; and Michel Uiterwijk, Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, the Netherlands, is thanked for calculating the climatic parameters for the Netherlands. Paul Goedhart, Biometris, Wageningen University and Research Centre, is kindly thanked for statistical analyses of the entire dataset. The Dutch Product Board of Feed, and the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority are acknowledged for providing the Dutch monitoring data. The Dutch Ministry for Economic Affairs, Agriculture & Innovation is thanked for funding. All persons involved in chemical analysis and data collection from Finland, including S. Rämö, T. Koivisto (MTT Agrifood Research Finland), S. Peltonen (ProAgria, Finland) and M. Kartio (Finnish Food and Safety Authority Evira), are thanked for their fruitful cooperation during the Finnish cereal monitoring programme. The Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is acknowledged for partly financing the mycotoxin and statistical analyses of Finnish cereal grain. Thomas Börjesson, Lantmannen in Sweden, is thanked for providing the Swedish monitoring data.