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Sorghum ergot is a disease caused commonly by C. africana . In 2015, ergot was identified for the first time in sorghum fields in Israel, leading to measures of eradication and quarantine. The aims of the study were to identify the ergot species by molecular and ergot alkaloid profile analysis, to determine the ergot alkaloid profile in pure honeydew and in infected sorghum silages and to estimate the safety of sorghum silages as a feed source. C. africana was rapidly and reliably identified by microscopical and molecular analysis. Dihydroergosine was identified as the major ergot alkaloid. Dihydrolysergol and dihydroergotamine were identified for the first time as significant ergot alkaloid components within the C. africana sclerotia, thereby providing for the first time a proof for the natural occurrence of dihydroergotamine. The sorghum silages were found to be safe for feed consumption, since the ergot alkaloids and the regulated mycotoxins were below their regulated limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel non-destructive sampling approach is described for the identification of food matrices contaminated with deoxynivalenol and other mycotoxins. This technique is different from currently applied sampling procedures for this purpose and is based on the principle that surface material from the tested goods is collected on a filter and brought to chemical or spectroscopic analysis.This approach has been applied to several matrices and mycotoxins, with a focus on those mycotoxin-matrix combinations that are of main relevance due to current or future legislation. Tests were carried out with a facility that has been shown to be suitable to process large quantities of materials at points of transaction, such as harbour. Further experiments with a small sampling lance prototype showed that analytical results from the chemical analysis of the tested goods can be correlated with the results obtained with this novel sampling procedure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]