Multimycotoxin and fungal analysis of maize grains from south and southwestern Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

The natural occurrence of fungi, mycotoxins and fungal metabolites was investigated in 100 samples of maize grains collected from south and southwestern Ethiopia in 2015. The maize samples were contaminated by Fusarium, Aspergillus and Penicillium species. Using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry 127 secondary metabolites were analysed. Zearalenone was the most prevalent mycotoxin, occurring in about 96% of the samples. Zearalenone sulfate was the second most prevalent, present in 81% of the samples. Fumonisin B1 was detected in 70% of the samples with a mean level of 606 μg kg⁻¹ in positive samples, while FB2, FB3 and FB4 were detected in 62%, 51% and 60% of the maize samples with mean levels of 202, 136 and 85 μg kg⁻¹, respectively. Up to 8% of the samples were contaminated with aflatoxins, with a maximum level of aflatoxin B1 of 513 μg kg⁻¹. Results were higher than earlier reports for maize from Ethiopia.

KEYWORDS:

• Grain contamination
• toxigenic fungi
• mycotoxin
• liquid chromatography

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Jafar Razzaghian, Zerihun Teshome, Hilina Wolde, Abiyot Muluneh and Kassahun Gedebo for their assistance during sample collection and preparation. We also acknowledge the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) for funding the research through the CSA-NORHED project. The LC-MS/MS was funded by the Center for Analytical Chemistry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

They also acknowledge the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) for funding the research through the CSA-NORHED project [ETH-13/0016]. The LC-MS/MS was funded by the Center for Analytical Chemistry, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna.