engleski

Preventing toxic effects of mycotoxins

Mycotoxins, secondary metabolites of moulds, due to their toxicity represent serious public health issue. The most toxic among mycotoxins are aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), ochratoxin A (OTA) and fumonisin B1 (FB1). Different strategies in preventing animal and human exposure to mycotoxins are developed and are in use, and some new are investigating. We tested effect of gamma (γ) irradiation, as simple and cheap physical method, on: a) growth of mycotoxin-producing moulds and on b) reduction of mycotoxins level. In experiments γ irradiation dose of 10 kGy was not exceeded, since it is established that γ irradiation in dose up to 10 kGy do not present toxicological hazard nor introduce any nutritional changes in γ irradiated-commodities. Experiments on aflatoxicigenic moulds (Aspergillus parasiticus, Aspergillus flavus, and Aspergillus niger) demonstrated that γ irradiation in the dose of 5 kGy prevent sporulation, germination and growth of tested moulds. In AFB1-artificially contaminated feed samples (corn seed, ground corn seed and feed samples), as well as in AFB1-naturally contaminated corn samples (n=30), γ irradiation effectively reduced AFB1 level ; 5 kGy dose reduced AB1 level for around 70 %, while 10 kGy dose for around 90 %. In dry-cured meat products (n=24) prepared from intentionally-contaminated raw materials of OTA-treated pigs, 3 kGy γ irradiation dose reduced OTA level for about 8.5 % and 10 kGy dose for about 22.5 %. These results indicate that low γ irradiation doses (up to 10 kGy) can eliminate aflatoxicigenic moulds’ contamination and reduce mycotoxins in various goods, but reduction of mycotoxin depend on type of sample e.g. on complexity of matrix. In conclusion γ irradiation can be used in preventing animal and human exposure to mycotoxins, or by eliminating mycotoxin-producing moulds, or by direct mycotoxins reduction, thus minimizing toxic effect of mycotoxins.

aflatoxin B1; ochratoxin A; gamma irradiation

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