Prevention and Detoxification of Mycotoxins in Human Food and Animal Feed using Bio-resources from South Mediterranean Countries: a Critical Review.

Mycotoxins, which are natural toxic compounds produced by filamentous fungi, are considered major contaminants in the food and feed chain due to their stability during processing. Their impacts in food and feedstuff pollution were accentuated due the climate change in the region. They are characterized by their toxicological effects on human and animal health but also by their harmful economic impact. Mediterranean countries: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia are characterized by high temperatures and high relative humidity, particularly in littoral regions that provide favorable conditions for fungal growth and toxinogenesis. Many scientific papers have been published recently in these countries showing mycotoxin occurrence in different commodities and an attempt at bio-detoxification using many bio-products. In order to minimize the bioavailability and/or to detoxify mycotoxins into less toxic metabolites (bio-transforming agents), safe and biological methods have been developed including the use of lactic acid bacteria, yeasts, plant extracts and clays minerals from Mediterranean regions. The aim of this review is to present the pollution of mycotoxins in food and feedstuff of humans and animals and to discuss the development of effective biological control for mycotoxin removal/detoxification and prevention using bio-products. This review will also elucidate the new used natural products to be considered as a new candidates for mycotoxins detoxification/prevention on animal feedstuffs.

Development and in-house validation of a rapid and simple to use ELISA for the detection and measurement of the mycotoxin sterigmatocystin.

Sterigmatocystin (STG) is a highly toxic secondary fungal metabolite structurally closely related to the well-known carcinogenic aflatoxins. Its presence has been reported in grains and grain-based products as well as in other foodstuffs like nuts, green coffee beans, spices, beer and cheese. Due to the lack of suitable data on the occurrence of STG, in 2013, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) could not characterise its risk for human health and recommended that more data on STG in food and feed needed to be collected. In order to provide a new tool for the specific detection of STG, a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed, optimised and validated in this study based on a sensitive monoclonal antibody specific to STG with no cross-reactivity with aflatoxins. The sample preparation method for rice, wheat and maize was based on a modified QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe) approach. The assay was validated for the detection of STG in rice, wheat and maize in accordance with the guidelines for validation of semi-quantitative screening methods included in Commission Regulation (EU) 519/2014. The screening target concentration (STC) was set at 1.5 µg/kg. The cutoffs for rice, wheat and maize were 1.2, 1.2 and 1.3 µg/kg and the false suspected rates were 0.34, 1.15 and 0.78%, respectively. Good correlation was found between the results obtained by the STG ELISA and LC-MS/MS method for naturally contaminated rice samples. This validated method can be applied as a sensitive and high-throughput screening for the presence of STG in a range of agricultural commodities. Graphical abstract A new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on an antibody specific to sterigmatocystin for the detection of this mycotoxin in corn, wheat and rice.