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Enniatins (Enns) are mycotoxins produced by Fusarium spp. which are a fungus widely spread throughout cereals and cereal-based products. Among all the identified enniatins, Enn B1 stands as one of the most prevalent analogues in cereals in Europe. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate for the first time the presence of Enn B1 and its phase I metabolites in 300 human urine samples using an ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS) methodology. Enn B1 was detected in 94.3% of samples ranging from 0.007 to 0.429 ng/mL (mean value: 0.065 ng/mL). In accordance with previous in vitro and in vivo analysis, hydroxylated metabolites (78.0% samples) and carbonylated metabolites (66.0% samples) were tentatively identified as the major products. Results from this biomonitoring study point to a frequent intake of Enn B1 in the studied population, suggesting that in-depth toxicological studies are needed in order to understand the potential effects in humans.

The presence of mycotoxigenic fungi such as Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Fusarium genera represents a problem in food preservation and consequently, its spoilage. During the fermentation process with lactic acid bacteria, a range of secondary metabolites associated with beneficial health effects were released. In the present study, goat whey fermented by Lactobacillus plantarum (CECT 220, 221, 223, and 748) species has shown a satisfactory inhibitory effect against 28 fungi, showing for certain species of Fusarium genus and also, for Aspergillus steynii, a value of minimum inhibitory concentration until 1.95 g/L. In addition, phenyllactic acid was identified in each sample of fermented whey at a concentration ranged from 0.34 to 1.21 mg/L. These results suggest the possible use of fermented whey as a source of new preservatives of natural origin to incorporate in food matrices for the purpose of improving the shelf life. Practical Application: Whey could be a good candidate for use as a natural antifungal agent to incorporate in food matrices. Whey could be used to prevent specific fungal growth that naturally occurs in food preparations. Consequentially, whey could enhance the shelf life of edible products.

Nowadays, there is an increasing concern regarding the shelf life of food products, leading producers to research natural antimicrobial agents to use in food preparation. In this study, we evaluated the antifungal activity of Lactobacillus plantarum fermented whey and then added the whey during preparation of pita bread to study shelf-life improvement. The fermented whey showed a satisfactory inhibitory (antifungal) effect against Penicillium expansum and Penicillium brevicompactum strains: the minimum inhibitory and minimum fungicidal concentrations ranged from 3.9 to 39.0 g/L and from 62.5 to 250 g/L, respectively. Addition of fermented whey increased the shelf life of the pita bread. After inoculation of the bread surface with Penicillium, an increase in shelf life until d 8 was achieved compared with the positive control, whereas under natural contamination conditions, an extension of shelf life until d 19 was observed. In terms of antimicrobial activity, the greatest reduction (100%) in fungal growth was achieved when all of the water in the dough was replaced with fermented whey. An untrained sensory panel could not identify differences between bread produced with fermented whey and control pita breads. These results suggest the possibility of using fermented whey in food preservation.

Endophytic fungi have several well-established beneficial effects on plant health and growth, and are a huge source of bioactive compounds. The endophyte Drechslera sp. strain 678, isolated from the roots of an Australian native grass Neurachne alopecuroidea, demonstrated efficacy against four plant pathogens (Pythium ultimum, Rhizoctonia solani, Botrytis cinerea, Alternaria alternata). In addition, strain 678 was capable of degrading a common additive used in gasoline, known as methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MtBE). Thus, the organic extracts obtained from the culture filtrate of strain 678 were studied. Metabolomic analysis revealed the presence of two major bioactive metabolites, monocerin and an alkynyl substituted epoxycyclohexenone derivative, which showed good antifungal activity. The Drechslera sp. strain 678 and its compounds show promise for applications in biocontrol and bioremediation activities in agriculture or as a remediation option for MtBE contamination in soil.

Various products are used to mitigate the negative effects of abiotic stress in olive trees. The aim of the research was to examine an anti-transpirant product (Vapor Gard®, V) and a kaolin- based product (Manisol, K) effect on the growth of two-year-old olive tree seedlings under high temperature. The study was conducted in a greenhouse on trees of a native cultivar of Campania (cv. Salella) grown in pot during the growing season from May to September 2020. The experimental design included two products: di-1-p-menthene (product V) and kaolin (product K), applied five times at 20 day intervals compared with a control. The following biometric, physiological, and nutraceutical parameters were evaluated: stomatal conductance, chlorophyll a fluorescence, Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD) index, relative water content (RWC), shoots growth, total leaf area per plant, trunk cross-sectional area, dry matter partitioning, total polyphenols, and antioxidant activity. The results obtained showed that the application of di-1-p-menthene (V) was able to induce a significant improvement of shoots growth (+37.22%) and trunk cross-sectional area (+46.60%) and a reduction of the stomatal conductance and an increase of leaf RWC values. Application with kaolin had positive effects on the total polyphenol content, with an increase over the control of 240.33% and higher antioxidant activity values. Further studies are necessary to determine the effect of these products on the biometric, physiological and nutraceutical parameters of mature olive trees cultivated in open field conditions.

Compositional variation was examined across 13 microgreens species/subspecies representing Brassicaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Lamiaceae, Malvaceae and Apiaceae, grown in controlled environment. Macro-mineral concentrations were determined by ion chromatography, chlorophyll and ascorbate concentrations, and hydrophilic/lipophilic antioxidant potentials by spectrophotometry, and major carotenoids by HPLC-DAD. Nitrate hyper-accumulators and wide genotypic differences in Na, K and S concentrations were identified. Antioxidant capacity was highest in brassicaceous microgreens and significant genotypic variation was demonstrated in chlorophyll and carotenoid concentrations. High phenolic content was confirmed in Lamiaceae microgreens, with significant varietal differences, and alternative phenolics-rich microgreens from the Apiaceae were identified. Twenty-eight phenolic compounds were variably detected and quantitated through Orbitrap LC–MS/MS with flavonol glycosides, flavones and flavone glycosides, and hydroxycinnamic acids representing 67.6, 24.8 and 7.6% of the mean total phenolic content across species, respectively. The obtained information is critical for selecting new species/varieties of microgreens that may satisfy demand for both taste and health.

Parsley is an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region and treasured for its phytochemical profile and bioactive properties. Developmental stage at harvest is a factor that modulates the nutritional quality of vegetables, including young greens. Accordingly, an experiment under strictly controlled conditions was carried out to compare the mineral macronutrient and phytochemical composition as well as the antioxidant activity of plain-leaf parsley (Petroselinum crispum cv. Comune 2) at two different harvest maturity stages, microgreens and baby greens. Macronutrients, carotenoids (lutein and β-carotene) and polyphenols were quantified through ion chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography with a diode-array detector (HPLC-DAD) and UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), respectively. Microgreens accumulated more potassium and phosphorus, whereas baby greens accumulated more calcium and magnesium, and 65.5% less nitrate. In addition, microgreens provided 1.8-fold more lutein and 2.8-fold more β-carotene, whereas baby greens provided 183.6% more total ascorbic acid, 64.2% more total polyphenols and 170.3% higher hydrophilic antioxidant activity. Based on the culinary and phytonutritive scope of the consumers, different harvest maturity stages can be opted for and production schemes designed. Future studies are warranted to appraise the importance of ontogeny as a determinant factor for the composition and bioactive value of additional micro-herb genotypes, including underutilized Mediterranean species.

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) waste contains a broad range of bioactive molecules, including polyphenols, which have poor bioaccessibility during gastrointestinal digestion. This work aimed to investigate the bioaccessibility of total phenolic compounds and the antioxidant capacity during simulated gastrointestinal digestion using two nutraceutical formulations based on non-acid-resistant (NAR) and acid-resistant (AR) capsules containing aqueous-based extracts from fennel waste. Moreover, to obtain a comprehensive investigation of the polyphenolic constituents of the fennel waste extract, a high-resolution mass spectrometry (Q-Orbitrap) analysis was performed. Notably, chlorogenic acids, such as 4-caffeoylquinic acid and 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, were the most detected compounds found in assayed samples (1.949 and 0.490 mg/g, respectively). After in vitro gastrointestinal digestion, the extract contained in AR capsules displayed higher bioaccessibility in both the duodenal and colonic stages (1.96 and 5.19 mg GAE/g, respectively) than NAR capsules (1.72 and 3.50 mg GAE/g, respectively), suggesting that the acidic gastric conditions negatively affected the polyphenol compounds released from the NAR capsules. Therefore, the aqueous extract of fennel waste could be proposed as an innovative and easily available source of dietary polyphenols. Furthermore, the use of an AR capsule could improve the polyphenol bioaccessibility and can be proposed as a nutraceutical formulation.

Neglected and underutilized species (NUS) offer largely unexplored opportunities for providing nutritious plant food, while making agro-ecosystems more diverse and resilient to climate change. The aim of this work was to explore the potential of two typical Mediterranean underutilized species, purslane and borage, as novel vegetable product (microgreens). Micro-scale production of edible plants is spreading due to the simplicity of their management, rapid cycle, harvest index, and phytochemical value of the edible product. Microgreens, therefore, represent an opportunity to link NUS, nutrition, and agricultural and dietary diversification. By analyzing yield, antioxidants activities, mineral composition, and main phenolic acids and flavonoids, our work indicated that the two species provide interesting results when compared with those reported for crops and horticultural species. Specifically, purslane should be considered highly nutritional due to the amount of phenolic compounds and ascorbic acid, and to potential good β-carotene bioavailability. Borage microgreens have a very high fresh yield and a more composite and balanced phenolic profile. In conclusion, our work provided evidence for implementing new ways to expand the NUS market-chains and for developing added-value food products.

Tobacco cultivation is characterized by high amounts of waste biomasses whose disposal frequently represents a complex and expensive problem. A study was conducted to evaluate thepotential of pre-harvest light air-cured (Burley) and dark fire-cured (Kentucky) tobacco waste biomasses as a source of bioactive compounds (nutraceutical ingredients) such as polyphenols. Pre-harvest waste materials (topping fresh materials and residual stalks at final harvest) were collected to determine dry matter, total polyphenols content (TPC, Folin assay), and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS (2,20-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-60-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt) antioxidant capacity. Polyphenols quali-quantitative profiles obtained by Orbitrap Q Exactive of both tobacco types were also determined. Total pre-harvest waste biomass amounted to 3956.9 and 1304.4 kg d.w. ha−1 in light air-cured (Burley) and dark fire-cured (Kentucky) tobacco types, respectively. Polyphenols content, expressed as g kg−1 dry weight (d.w.), ranged between 4.6 and 15.7 g kg−1 d.w. and was generally greater in leaves than in stalks. Considering both leaves and stalks, the light air-cured (Burley) tobacco crop yielded 22.1 kg ha−1 of polyphenols, while the dark fire-cured (Kentucky) tobacco yielded 12.0 kg ha−1. DPPH and ABTS were significantly greater in leaves than in stalks waste biomass in both types of tobacco. The most abundant components were quinic and chlorogenic acids, rutin, and luteolin rutinoside.

Brassica L. microgreens are a fresh microscale vegetable crop of high antioxidant value and naturally dense in nutrients without the intervention of biofortification or genetic engineering. A climate chamber experiment on peat-based substrate was set up to test microgreens growth and accumulation of secondary metabolites in response to nutrient supplementation. Microgreens mineral content was analyzed through ion chromatography and total ascorbic acid through UV-Vis spectrophotometry, while carotenoids and phenolic acids were quantified by HPLC-DAD and UHPLC-HRMS, respectively. Brussels sprouts and cabbage yield was only reduced by 10%, while nitrate was reduced by 99% in the absence of nutrient supplementation. Rocket yield was prominently reduced by 47%, with a corresponding nitrate reduction of 118%. Brussels sprouts secondary metabolites were not improved by the absence of nutrient supplementation, whereas cabbage microgreens demonstrated a 30% increase in total ascorbic acid and a 12% increase in total anthocyanins. As for rocket, the absence of nutrient supplementation elicited an extensive increase in secondary metabolites, such as lutein (110%), β-carotene (30%), total ascorbic acid (58%) and total anthocyanins (20%), but caused a decrease in total phenolic acids. It is hereby demonstrated that growing microgreens on a commercial peat-based substrate without nutrient supplementation can be feasible for certain species. Moreover, it might elicit a species-dependent spike in bioactive secondary metabolites.

Cultivated cardoon (Cynara cardunculus var. altilis L.) is a promising candidate species for the development of plant cell cultures suitable for large-scale biomass production and recovery of nutraceuticals. We set up a protocol for Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation, which can be used for the improvement of cardoon cell cultures in a frame of biorefinery. As high lignin content determines lower saccharification yields for the biomass, we opted for a biotechnological approach, with the purpose of reducing lignin content, we generated transgenic lines overexpressing the Arabidopsis thaliana MYB4 transcription factor, a known repressor of lignin/flavonoid biosynthesis. Here, we report a comprehensive characterization, including metabolic and transcriptomic analyses of AtMYB4 overexpression cardoon lines, in comparison to wild type, underlining favorable traits for their use in biorefinery. Among these, the improved accessibility of the lignocellulosic biomass to degrading enzymes due to depletion of lignin content, the unexpected increased growth rates, and the valuable nutraceutical profiles, in particular for hydroxycinnamic/caffeoylquinic and fatty acids profiles.

In the Rural Development Plan (2014&ndash, 2020), the European Commission encouraged the conversion and supported the maintenance of organic farming. Organic olive oil (bioEVOO) production involves the use of environmentally sustainable fertilizers and the recycling of olive pomace (Pom) and olive vegetation waters (VW) to reduce the environmental impact of these wastes. An ecofriendly way to recycle olive wastes is to reuse them to extract bioactive compounds. In this study, the total phenolic compounds content, their profile and dosage, the antioxidant action in oil, pomace, and vegetation water was evaluated when the Trichoderma harzianum M10 was used as a biostimulant in agriculture. Two spectrophotometric tests (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2&prime, azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic) acid (ABTS)) evaluated the antioxidant potential of samples, a spectrophotometric method estimated total phenolic content, and an Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC)&ndash, Orbitrap method evaluated the phenolics profile. Our results showed that the biostimulation improved the antioxidant potential and the total concentration of phenolics in the bioEVOO and bio-pomace (bioPom) samples and mainly enhanced, among all classes of phenolic compounds, the production of the flavonoids and the secoiridoids. Moreover, they demonstrated the Trichoderma action in the mevalonate pathway to produce phenols for the first time. The decisive action of the Thricoderma on the production of phenolic compounds increases the economic value of the waste materials as a source of bioactive compounds useful for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries.

Heavy payloads in future shuttle journeys to Mars present limiting factors, making self-sustenance essential for future colonies. Therefore, in situ resources utilization (ISRU) is the path to successful and feasible space voyages. This research frames the concept of planting leafy vegetables on Mars regolith simulant, ameliorating this substrate&rsquo, s fertility by the addition of organic residues produced in situ. For this purpose, two butterhead lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. capitata) cultivars (green and red Salanova&reg, ) were chosen to be cultivated in four different mixtures of MMS-1 Mojave Mars simulant:compost (0:100, 30:70, 70:30 and 100:0, v:v) in a phytotron open gas exchange growth chamber. The impact of compost rate on both crop performance and the nutritive value of green- and red-pigmented cultivars was assessed. The 30:70 mixture proved to be optimal in terms of crop performance, photosynthetic activity, intrinsic water use efficiency and quality traits of lettuce. In particular, red Salanova&reg, showed the best performance in terms of these quality traits, registering 32% more phenolic content in comparison to 100% simulant. Nonetheless, the 70:30 mixture represents a more realistic scenario when taking into consideration the sustainable use of compost as a limited resource in space farming, while still accepting a slight significant decline in yield and quality in comparison to the 30:70 mixture.

A total of fifteen potential methyl t-butyl ether (MtBE)-degrading bacterial strains were isolated from contaminated soil. They have been identified as belonging to the genera Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Kocuria, Janibacter, Starkeya, Bosea, Mycolicibacterium, and Rhodovarius. Bacillus aryabhattai R1B, S. novella R8b, and M. mucogenicum R8i were able to grow using MtBE as carbon source, exhibiting different growth behavior and contaminant degradation ability. Their biocontrol ability was tested against various fungal pathogens. Both S. novella R8b and B. aryabhattai were effective in reducing the development of necrotic areas on leaves within 48 hours from Botritys cinerea and Alternaria alternata inoculation. Whereas, M. mucogenicum effectively controlled B. cinerea after 72 hours. Similar results were achieved using Pythium ultimum, in which the application of isolated bacteria increased seed germination. Only M. mucogenicum elicited tomato plants resistance against B. cinerea. This is the first report describing the occurrence of bioremediation and biocontrol activities in M. mucogenicum, B. aryabhattai and S. novella species. The production of maculosin and its antibiotic activity against Rhizoctonia solani has been reported for first time from S. novella. Our results highlight the importance of multidisciplinary approaches to achieve a consistent selection of bacterial strains useful for plant protection and bioremediation purposes.

Cultivated cardoon (Cynara cardunculus var. altilis) has long been used as a food and medicine remedy and nowadays is considered a functional food. Its leaf bioactive compounds are mostly represented by chlorogenic acids and coumaroyl derivatives, known for their nutritional value and bioactivity. Having antioxidant and hepatoprotective properties, these molecules are used for medicinal purposes. Apart from the phenolic compounds in green tissues, cultivated cardoon is also used for the seed oil, having a composition suitable for the human diet, but also valuable as feedstock for the production of biofuel and biodegradable bioplastics. Given the wide spectrum of valuable cardoon molecules and their numerous industrial applications, a detailed characterization of different organs and tissues for their metabolic profiles as well as an extensive transcriptional analysis of associated key biosynthetic genes were performed to provide a deeper insight into metabolites biosynthesis and accumulation sites. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive analysis of the phenylpropanoids profile through UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS analysis, of fatty acids content through GC-MS analysis, along with quantitative transcriptional analyses by qRT-PCR of hydroxycinnamoyl-quinate transferase (HQT), stearic acid desaturase (SAD), and fatty acid desaturase (FAD) genes in seeds, hypocotyls, cotyledons and leaves of the cardoon genotypes &ldquo, Spagnolo&rdquo, &ldquo, Bianco Avorio&rdquo, and &ldquo, Gigante&rdquo, Both oil yield and total phenols accumulation in all the tissues and organs indicated higher production in &ldquo, than in &ldquo, Antioxidant activity evaluation by DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays mirrored total phenols content. Overall, this study provides a detailed analysis of tissue composition of cardoon, enabling to elucidate value-added product accumulation and distribution during plant development and hence contributing to better address and optimize the sustainable use of this natural resource. Besides, our metabolic and transcriptional screening could be useful to guide the selection of superior genotypes.

The health advantages of extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) are ascribed mainly to the antioxidant ability of the phenolic compounds. Secoiridoids, hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, phenolic acid, and flavones, are the main nutraceutical substances of EVOO. Applications of beneficial microbes and/or their metabolites impact the plant metabolome. In this study the effects of application of selected Trichoderma strains or their effectors (secondary metabolites) on the phenolic compounds content and antioxidant potential of the EVOOs have been evaluated. For this purpose, Trichoderma virens (strain GV41) and Trichoderma harzianum (strain T22), well-known biocontrol agents, and two their metabolites harzianic acid (HA) and 6-pentyl-&alpha, pyrone (6PP) were been used to treat plants of Olea europaea var. Leccino and var. Carolea. Then the nutraceutical potential of EVOO was evaluated. Total phenolic content was estimated by Folin&ndash, Ciocalteau&rsquo, s assay, metabolic profile by High-Resolution Mass spectroscopy (HRMS-Orbitrap), and antioxidant activity by DPPH and ABTS assays. Our results showed that in the cultivation of the olive tree, T22 and its metabolites improve the nutraceutical value of the EVOOs modulating the phenolic profile and improving antioxidants activity.

Tree nuts have become popular snacks due to their attributed benefits in the health state. Nevertheless, their susceptibility to fungal contamination lead to the occurrence of potentially dangerous mycotoxins. Hence, the aim of this work was to evaluate the presence of mycotoxins in ready-to-eat almonds, walnuts, and pistachios from Italian markets. The most relevant mycotoxin found in almonds was α-zearalanol in 18% of samples (n = 17) ranging from 3.70 to 4.54 µg/kg. Walnut samples showed frequent contamination with alternariol, present in 53% of samples (n = 22) at levels from 0.29 to 1.65 µg/kg. Pistachios (n = 15) were the most contaminated commodity, with β-zearalenol as the most prevalent toxin present in 59% of samples ranging from 0.96 to 8.60 µg/kg. In the worst-case scenario, the exposure to zearalenone-derived forms accounted for 15.6% of the tolerable daily intake, whereas it meant 12.4% and 21.2% of the threshold of toxicological concern for alternariol and alternariol monomethyl-ether, respectively. The results highlighted the extensive presence of Alternaria toxins and zearalenone-derived forms, scarcely studied in ready-to-eat tree nut products, highlighting the necessity to include these mycotoxins in analytical methods to perform more realistic risk assessments.

This research aims at studying the relationships between tree crop load and fruit quality (fruit size, chemical, and nutraceutical composition) of flat peaches at harvest. The experiment was carried out in 2013 and 2014 on mature trees of the flat peach cultivar ‘UFO 4’. Five levels of fruit thinning intensity were compared, corresponding to crop loads of 327, 258, 229, 187, and 149 fruits/tree, respectively. Most of the measured fruit quality features (fruit fresh weight, soluble solid content, titratable acidity, concentration of malic, tartaric, chlorogenic, and neochlorogenic acids, flavonoids, total phenolics, and antioxidant activity of flesh juice) progressively increased with decreasing fruit load, whereas fruit yield and the percentage of cull fruits (because of split pit) progressively increased with decreasing fruit load. The results of this study demonstrate that fruit thinning is an effective management practice to improve fruit size and the nutraceutical composition of flat peaches at harvest.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the biological and antimicrobial activities of commercial freeze-dried whey fermented by lactic acid bacteria in order to valorize this high polluting liquid waste of the dairy industry. Freeze-dried whey was fermented by different strains of Lactobacillus plantarum (CECT 220, 221, 748) at three different times of fermentation (24, 48, 72 h). Afterwards, the extract was purified on centricon amicon with a cut-off of 3 kDa to obtain a permeate consisting of small bioactive compounds reported in the literature to show greater bioactivity. The purified and diluted samples were subjected to the biological and antimicrobial tests for the evaluation of antioxidant, antihypertensive, iron binding, and antifungal activities and identification of phenolic compounds. The results highlighted a radical cation scavenging activity ranging from 1.415 to 2.083 mmol trolox equivalents TE per kg of dry weight, a percentage of iron binding capacity ranging between 23-55% and a percentage of ACE inhibitory activity ranging between 67-85%. The optimal biological activity was obtained from whey fermented by L. plantarum 220 for all the assays performed, except for the iron chelating activity. Furthermore, the antifungal analysis showed a good activity against the mycotoxigenic fungi belonging to Fusarium generum (F. moniliformis, F. graminearum and F. verticillioides), while a slight activity was obtained for Aspergillus and Penicillium generum. This antifungal activity could be correlated to the production of phenolic compounds during fermentation. The obtained results support the hypothesis of using whey as a functional ingredient to improve food preservation.

Ninety three samples of rice were obtained from research and commercial plots at eight rice-producing regions of Brazil and analyzed for the presence of Fusarium species and 14 mycotoxins. A total of 352 isolates belonging to Fusarium genus were obtained from 85 % of the samples. These were assigned to four species complexes (SC) based on morphological identification. The most frequent SC detected was F. incarnatum-equiseti (FIESC, 32.4 %) followed by F. fujikuroi (FFSC, 26.1 %), F. graminearum (FGSC, 24.7 %) and F. chlamydosporum (FCSC, 16.8 %). FGSC was limited geographically and dominant in the southern subtropical production regions while the others occurred in all regions, particularly FIESC, the most widespread among them. The samples were individually contaminated with three to eight mycotoxins. The most common mycotoxins detected were zearalenone (ZEA), beauvericin, and acetylated forms of deoxynivalenol (AcDON). Other toxins included enniatins, T-2, HT-2, DON, neosolaniol and moniliformin. The concentration levels were all below the Brazilian promulgated limits established only for DON (< 750 ppb), and ZEA (< 100 ppb) with one exception for the latter. Most toxins were found in both the husk and flour fractions, but AcDON tended to concentrate more in the husk. Our survey extends considerable our knowledge of the Fusarium complexes infecting rice and provides an update on the status of rice mycotoxin contamination at the country level, which can be considered generally safe. However, attention should be paid to the widespread contamination of beauvericin.

Globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus L. Fiori) is a traditional component of the Mediterranean diet, it is considered a rich source of phenolic compounds. Globe artichoke production is traditionally based on vegetatively propagated varietal types. As for pathologic and economic disadvantages of the former multiplication method, Italian artichoke breeding programs have produced some potential seed propagated hybrids. An experiment was conducted to assess the yield, mineral and polyphenolic profiles of two potential seed-propagated F1 hybrid 'Istar' and 'Romolo'. The artichoke yield recorded on 'Romolo' was significantly higher by 33% in comparison to 'Istar'. The N and K concentrations were significantly lower by 25.5% and higher by 10.1%, respectively, in 'Romolo' in comparison to 'Istar'. Among the macronutrients studied, K was the mineral with the higher concentration, with a mean of 24.9 g kg-1 dw. In addition, the Na concentration and Na/K ratio observed in both cultivars were low. Amongst the caffeoylquinic acids, 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid and 1,5-diO-caffeoylquinic acid were the main compounds. The remaining caffeoylquinic acids (i.e., 1- and 3-O-caffeoylquinic acids, 3,4-, 3,5- and 4,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acids) were minor compounds in the analyzed samples. Regarding the cultivar effect, the 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid, apigenin 7-O-glucoronide, total caffeoylquinic acids, total apigenin derivatives, were significantly higher in 'Romolo' by 23.1, 180.0, 20.5, and 149.5%, respectively, in comparison to 'Istar', suggesting that specific cultivar should be selected to obtain the desired profile of bioactive compounds. Overall, the seed-propagated cultivars can represent a suitable alternative to the vegetative propagated ones, thus opening new perspectives for the artichoke production.

Plasmatic transthyretin may be regarded as a suitable candidate biomarker for the onset, severity, and progression of Alzheimer disease. The aim of the present experimental work was to evaluate the effect of red wine polyphenols (RWPs) on the expression of transthyretin in murine choroid plexus. In contrast to what generally reported in literature for polyphenols, our experimental results indicated a correlation between RWPs assumption and a decrease of transthyretin expression, with a non-dose dependent trend. The present study would point out the attention on the possible pro-oxidant effects of red wine polyphenols at certain doses, although further in vitro, in vivo, and clinical experiments must be performed in order to clarify the mechanisms of action at the base of observed results.

Cannabidiol (CBD) food supplements made of Cannabis sativa L. extracts have quickly become popular products due to their health-promoting effects. However, potential contaminants, such as mycotoxins and pesticides, can be coextracted during the manufacturing process and placed into the final product. Accordingly, a novel methodology using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS) was developed to quantify 16 mycotoxins produced by major C. sativa fungi, followed by a post-target screening of 283 pesticides based on a comprehensive spectral library. The validated procedure was applied to ten CBD-based products. Up to six different Fusarium mycotoxins were found in seven samples, the most prevalent being zearalenone (60%) and enniatin B1 (30%), both found at a maximum level of 11.6 ng/g. Co-occurrence was observed in four samples, including one with enniatin B1, enniatin A and enniatin A1. On the other hand, 46 different pesticides were detected after retrospective analysis. Ethoxyquin (50%), piperonyl butoxide (40%), simazine (30%) and cyanazine (30%) were the major residues found. These results highlight the necessity of monitoring contaminants in food supplements in order to ensure a safe consumption, even more considering the increase trend in their use. Furthermore, the developed procedure is proposed as a powerful analytical tool to evaluate the potential mycotoxin profile of these particular products.

Enniatins (Enns) are mycotoxins produced by Fusarium spp. and are widely distributed contaminants of cereals and derivate products. Among the different identified enniatins, Enn B is the most relevant analogue in cereals in Europe. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate for the first time the occurrence of Enn B and Enn B phase I metabolites in 300 human urine samples throughout an ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS) methodology. Three different sample preparation procedures were evaluated and salting-out liquid-liquid extraction showed satisfactory validation results. Enn B was quantified in 83.7% of samples ranging from 0.006 to 0.391 ng/mL (average content: 0.016 ng/mL). In line with the in vitro observations with human liver microsomes, in the here analyzed samples the Enn B monooxygenated, N-demethylated and dioxygenated metabolites were tentatively found in 87.7%, 96.3% and 6.7% of samples. The data of this pilot biomonitoring survey indicate a frequent intake of enniatins in Italy, supporting further toxicological studies to provide better basis for understanding their potential effects in humans.

Lutein (LT) is a naturally occurring xanthophyll carotenoid most predominant in the central nervous system (CNS), but its neurotrophic role is still debated. We therefore investigated whether cord blood concentrations correlated with a well-established neurobiomarker, namely activin A.We conducted a prospective study on the distribution of LT and activin A in arterial cord blood of healthy preterm (n=50) and term (n=82) newborns according to weeks of gestational age (wGA) and gender.LT and activin A showed a pattern of concentration characterized by higher levels (P0.01, for all) at 33-36 wGA followed by a progressive decrease (P0.01, for all) from 37 onwards with a dip at term. Both LT and activin A were gender-dependent with significantly (P0.01, for all) higher levels in all recruited females and after sub-grouping for preterm and term births. LT (R=0.33; P0.001) correlated with wGA at sampling. There were significant positive correlations between lutein and activin A in male (R=0.93; P0.001) and female (R=0.89; P0.001) groups.The present data showing a correlation between LT and activin A support the notion of a neurotrophic role gender-dependent for LT and open the way to further investigations correlating LT with well-established biochemical markers of CNS development/damage.

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is the main bacterial cause of dehydrating infant diarrhoea in less-developed countries. Labile toxin (LT) is the major virulent factor of ETEC. Easy diagnostic tests are necessary to reduce the number of cases. Immunological methods have some drawbacks and also have important limitations. For that reason, a Liquid Chromatography coupled to UV detector technique (LC-UV) has been optimize to a rapid identification and quantification of LT from bacteria cultures. It is also important to know optimal conditions for LT and with this purpose several enterotoxigenic E. coli strains have been studied to determine the influence of glucose concentration and different culture media on LT production. LC-UV technique demonstrated to be a good method for LT quantification showing values of 15 ng/mL and 45 ng/mL for limits of detection and quantification respectively. LT quantification revealed that toxin production is directly related to the concentration of glucose added in the broth medium. Tryptic Soy Broth is the most efficient culture medium for E. coli growth and enterotoxin production.

This study evaluates the aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) contamination in 804 samples of raw milk from cow and buffalo, collected randomly in Campania and Calabria regions of Southern Italy over a two years period. The competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used to analyze AFM1 in the samples. AFM1 levels result above the CCβ value of 0.004 μg/kg in 51 (12.3%) cow milk samples and in 28 (7.2%) buffalo milk samples. Positive results from screening analysis were confirmed by high performance liquid chromatography with fluorimetric detection (HPLC-FLD) after a procedure of centrifugation, extraction and immunoaffinity column clean-up of milk. Only one cow milk sample exceeded the maximum limit (0.05 μg/kg) set by the European Regulation. The occurrence of AFM1 contamination was significantly (p Our results indicate that feedstuff used in the buffalo and cow farms were not highly contaminated with aflatoxins, determining a good quality of the analyzed milk. Therefore, the AFM1 contamination of the milk does not represent a serious public health problem in both regions in Southern Italy.

The healthy consumers make a strong pressure to natural products that can prevent the chronic diseases and improve the general health status, and therefore an important aspect that have to be considered is the safe level of the nutraceuticals. This study reports the occurrence of Ochratoxin A (OTA) and associated fungal contamination in 35 samples of dried vine fruits imported in the European community potentially used for the development of new nutraceutical supplements. High pressure liquid chromatography analysis identified 18 samples as contaminated by OTA with an average level of 2.6 μg/kg. OTA was measured in 4 samples of currants (mean value of 6.6 μg/kg) and 13 samples of raisins (mean value of 1.4 μg/kg). In one sample of currants and one of raisins from Turkey OTA exceeded the limits set by European Commission of 10 μg/kg, being contaminated with 12.61 and 15.99 μg/kg, respectively. All the positive samples were confirmed by Orbitrap Q Exactive through their molecular weight and the corresponding fragmentation. The worldwide consumption of dried vine fruits contributed to OTA exposure in several group of consumers. In particular, considering the potential nutraceutical approach, this consumption may be represent a severe risk for healthy consumers that consider these products like healthy and salutistic for their contents in antioxidants, flavonoids, and polyphenols. Data reported in this study confirmed the need to regularly monitor mycotoxin levels in these food products and optimize the process of fruits drying in order to reduce the development of toxigenic molds.

Brown rot is a major disease of stone fruits caused by Monilinia spp. It can reach high incidence that leads to considerable losses during storage. Our work aimed at the evaluation of innovative biological and integrated approaches to control brown rot of apricots and peaches, and of their influence on the presence of fungicide residues both in the harvested fruits and derived peach juices. In this work, we report the results of a two-year field investigation carried out in 5 different farms in Southern Italy. Plant health management strategy was based on two treatments performed in the last thirty days before harvest. Two biocontrol agents (BCAs), the yeast Rhodotorula kratochvilovae strain LS11 and the commercial biofungicide Serenade Max® (based on Bacillus subtilis strain QST 713), were applied alone (biocontrol) or in combination with low doses of the fungicides (25% of full dosage, integrated control) cyprodinil (30 days before harvest), and boscalid (7 days before harvest). The highest protection was recorded in conventional (fungicides applied at full dosage) and integrated control treatments, both on apricots and peaches. In the integrated control, residues of fungicides in fruits and in peach juice were significantly lower compared to those of the conventional control in both fruit species. Our data show that biological and integrated control based on two key treatments at thirty and seven days before harvest can be considered as effective and safer control strategies of brown rot of stone fruits. Furthermore, the applied strategies can dramatically reduce and even set to zero the level of fungicide residues in derived fruit juices.

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by fungi contaminating the food chain that are toxic to animals and humans. Children up to 12 years old are recognized as a potentially vulnerable subgroup with respect to consumption of these contaminants. Apart from having a higher exposure per kg body weight, they have a different physiology from that of adults. Therefore they may be more sensitive to neurotoxic, endocrine and immunological effects. For these reasons, a specific and up-to-date risk analysis for this category is of great interest. In this review, an accurate analysis of the main mycotoxins occurring in food intended for children (deoxynivalenol, aflatoxins, ochratoxins, patulin and fumonisins) is presented. In particular, known mechanisms of toxicity and levels of exposure and bioaccessibility in children are shown. In addition, recent discoveries about the strategies of mycotoxins managing are discussed.

Celiac disease (CD) is a genetic-based autoimmune disorder which is characterized by inflammation in the small intestinal mucosa due to the intolerance to gluten. Celiac people should consume products without gluten, which are elaborated mainly with maize or other cereals. Contamination of cereals with mycotoxins, such as fumonisins (FBs) and aflatoxins (AFs) is frequently reported worldwide. Therefore, food ingestion is the main source of mycotoxin exposure. A new analytical method was developed and validated for simultaneous analysis of 21 mycotoxins in gluten-free pasta, commonly consumed by celiac population as an alternative to conventional pasta. Ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS) was used for analyte separation and detection. The mycotoxins included in this work were those widely reported to occur in cereal samples, namely, ochratoxin-A (OTA), aflatoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2), zearalenone (ZON), deoxynivalenol (DON), 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol and 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3-AcDON and 15-AcDON, respectively), nivalenol (NIV), neosolaniol (NEO), fusarenone-X, (FUS-X), T-2 toxin (T-2) and HT-2 toxin (HT-2), fumonisin B1 and B2 (FB1 and FB2, respectively), enniatins (ENN A, ENN A1, ENN B and ENN B1) and beauvericin (BEA). The validated method was successfully applied to 84 gluten-free pasta samples collected from several local markets of Campania region (Italy) during September to November 2020 to monitor the occurrence of mycotoxins and to assess the exposure to these food contaminants. A significant number of samples (95%) showed mycotoxin contamination, being Fusarium mycotoxins (FB1, ZON and DON) the most commonly detected ones. Regarding the risk assessment, the higher exposures were obtained for NIV, DON and FB1 for children and teenagers age group which can be explained due to their lower body weight.

Background: Characterizing germplasm collections of autochthonous cultivars for fruit quality traits could be a successful approach for selection, improvement of organoleptic quality and levels of antioxidants of crop produce, and development of new market opportunities and coherent strategies for conservation and valorization. The aim of the study was the evaluation of fruit physicochemical traits as well as the content of bioactive compounds and the antioxidant capacity in 25 sweet cherry autochthonous cultivars.; Results: Cultivars were a source of statistically significant variation for all evaluated traits. Notably, average fruit ascorbate levels ranged from 34.45 to 244.68 µg g-1 fresh weight (FW) , total flavonoids from 1396.40 to 4694.75 µg quercetin equiv. g-1 FW, monomeric anthocyanins from 4.80 to 360.90 µg g-1 FW, and total antioxidant capacity from 1.53 to 2.58 nmol Trolox equiv. mg-1 FW. Fruit profiling of eight cultivars by high-resolution mass spectrometry identified a total of eight different anthocyanins and twenty-five non-anthocyanin polyphenolic compounds - mostly coumaroylquinic acid and neochlorogenic acid.; Conclusion: Among the better-performing cultivars for fruit quality traits, Mulegnana Nera and Pagliarella shared high fruit levels of phenolics, flavonoids and antioxidant capacity. This is a forerunner work on the characterization of genetic resources, which is critical to researchers and breeders for exploitation of the genetic potential of cultivars and for their conservation. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.; © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Commercial coffee is available as a mixture of two varieties of coffee beans, namely Arabica, which is more expensive, and Canephora (Robusta), less expensive. To assess the correspondence between the composition indicated on the label and the real composition of commercially available coffee, it would be desirable to be able to differentiate between the two varieties. This would also help to avoid any possible commercial frauds. This work identifies parameters based on the fatty acid composition to differentiate between Arabica and Canephora coffee in a mixture. Total monounsaturated fatty acids (SMUFA), linolenic acid (cis18:3n–3) concentration, the 18:0/cis18:1n–9 ratio, and the SMUFA/SSFA ratio could be used to determine the relative amounts of Arabica and Canephora in a coffee blend.

We investigated ochratoxin A (OTA) contamination in raisin samples purchased from Slovak markets and determined the diversity of black-spored aspergilli as potential OTA and fumonisin (FB1 and FB2) producers. The taxonomic identification was performed using sequences of the nuclear ITS1-5.8s-ITS2 region, the calmodulin and beta-tubulin genes. We obtained 239 isolates from eight fungal genera, of which 197 belonged to Aspergillus (82%) and 42 strains (18%) to other fungal genera. OTA contamination was evidenced in 75% of the samples and its level ranged from 0.8 to 10.6 &micro, g/kg. The combination of all three markers used enabled unambiguous identification of A. carbonarius, A. luchuensis, A. niger, A. tubingensis and A. welwitschiae. The dominant coloniser, simultaneously having the highest within-species diversity isolated from our raisin samples, was A. tubingensis. Out of all analysed strains, only A. carbonarius was found to produce OTA, but in relatively high quantity (2477&ndash, 4382 &micro, g/kg). The production of FB1 and FB2 was evidenced in A. niger strains only.

Fusarium poae is one of the Fusarium species commonly detected in wheat kernels affected by Fusarium Head Blight. Fusarium poae produces a wide range of mycotoxins including nivalenol (NIV). The effect of temperature on colony growth and NIV production was investigated in vitro at 5-40 degrees C with 5 degrees C intervals. When the data were fit to a Beta equation (R-2 >= 0.97), the optimal temperature was estimated to be 24.7 degrees C for colony growth and 27.5 degrees C for NIV production. The effects of temperature on infection incidence, fungal biomass, and NIV contamination were investigated by inoculating potted durum wheat plants at full anthesis; inoculated heads were kept at 10-40 degrees C with 5 degrees C intervals for 3 days and then at ambient temperature until ripening. Temperature significantly affected the incidence of floret infection and fungal biomass (as indicated by DNA amount) in the affected heads but did not affect NIV content in the head tissue. Inoculation of potted plants with F. poae did not reduce yield. (c) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This research describes an unexpected toxicity of the aflatoxin B1 towards the vitamin D receptors. Rickets is a childhood disease, and calcium deficiency is the aetiological cause in Africa, being primarily associated with nutritional problems; in this research the contribution of aflatoxin B1 exposure during the early months of life is an interesting factor to deepen in order to prevent liver damages or the development of rickets. The results show that the expression of vitamin D receptor in osteosarcoma cell line SAOS-2 is significantly down-modulated by exposure to aflatoxin B1. This seems to suggest that Aflatoxin B1, toxic towards the vitamin D receptor, interferes with the actions of the vitamin D on calcium binding gene expression in the kidney and intestine. Experimental data indicate a 58% and 86% decrease if the cells are exposed to 5 ng/mL and 50 ng/mL of aflatoxin B1, respectively. These results seem to indicate that natural occurrence of the aflatoxin B1 and allelic variant of vitamin D receptor on (F allele) increase the risk of developing rickets of African children.

Beauvericin (BEA) is a cyclic depsipeptide with antibiotic and insecticidal effects. It was discovered for the first time from the fungus Beauveria bassiana , but more significantly, is produced by several Fusarium strains, and considered a contaminant of several cereals like corn, wheat and barley. This study investigated the degradation of BEA by intracellular raw enzymes of four strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae , named LO9, YE5, A34, and A17. The BEA at 25 mg/kg in a model solution and in corn flour was co-incubated with the raw enzymes from the four yeast strains, respectively. The reduction of BEA was evaluated using liquid chromatography coupled to a diode array detector (LC–DAD); the products formed during the co-incubation were determined by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry-linear ion trap (LC–MS-LIT). In model solution BEA reduction ranged from 83 to 100%. In corn flour treated with the intracellular raw enzymes, the BEA degradation was from 66 to 91%. A product resulted from the BEA degradation was identified.

A survey on 73 milk samples from different animal breeds and 24 dairy products samples from Sicily, Italy, was carried out for the presence of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) by LC-fluorescence detection after immunoaffinity cleanup. AFM1 was detected in 48% and 42% of the milk and dairy samples at concentration ranges between

Mycotoxins (MT) can be produced by some microfungi and are capable of causing disease and death in humans and other animals. The secondary metabolites produced by moulds can contaminate different agricultural commodities. The most important MT derived secondary metabolites associated with human and veterinary diseases, include aflatoxin, citrinin, ergot akaloids, fumonisins, ochratoxin A, patulin, trichothecenes, zearalenone, and fusariotoxins. Fusaproliferin (FP), can be produced in appropriate environmental conditions by the filamentous fungi belonging to the genus Fusarium spp., and is mainly a contaminant of grains, e.g., wheat, barley, maize, rice. The processing of these commodities does not affect the presence of this contaminant, and for this reason it might be of concern for the food safety. The damage caused by moulds and the hazard of consuming damaged grains have been in fact recognized since historical times. The possibility of human diseases occurring as a result of the consumption of mould-damaged rice and wheat has been raised in many Countries. FP and its presence in cereals and foodstuff represent a threat and risk assessment is needed since this mycotoxin could pose a potential risk for human health.

Aflatoxin M1 (AF M1), a hydroxylated metabolite of AF B1, is an important toxin that can contaminate the milk of lactating mothers. A correlation study was conducted to determine the relationship between AF M1 content of breast milk, dietary exposure to AF B1 and socioeconomic status of lactating mothers in the three Senatorial districts of Ogun State, Nigeria. Equal amounts of breast milk (20 ml) and food rations (40 kg) obtained from 50 volunteer lactating mothers and eighty-two frequently consumed food commodities in the preceding month were used for the study. The level of contamination of the foods by AF B1 was low (0.16-0.33 μg/kg) and differed significantly (p0.05) across the state but did not exceed the EU limit of 2 μg/kg. The occurrence level of AF B1 was however high (93.75-94.45%) and was more pronounced in Ogun East Senatorial district (94.45%). Eighty-two percent of the breast milk was contaminated with AF M1 (3.49-35 ng/l) and 16% exceeded the EU limit of 25 ng/l while a 100% occurrence risk was recorded in Ogun Central Senatorial district. The socioeconomic status of the mothers also significantly influenced their dietary exposure and exposure risk of the sucklings to AF M1.

Beauvericin (BEA) is a bioactive compound produced by the secondary metabolism of several Fusarium strains and known to have various biological activities. This study investigated the degradation of the minor Fusarium mycotoxin BEA present in the concentration of 5 mg/kg in a model solution and in different crispy breads produced with different flours typologies (corn, hole, wheat, durum wheat, soy and rice) during the heat treatment carried out in an oven at three different temperatures of 160, 180 and 200 °C and at 3, 6, 10, 15 and 20 min incubation. The concentration of the bioactive compound studied, analyzed with the technique of the liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS), decreased in the experiment carried out in the model solution from 2.89 ± 0.13 mg/kg of the assay at 160 °C for 3 min until the complete degradation at 200 °C during 20 min incubation. In the experiments carried out using the crispy breads prepared with different kind of flours, as system to simulate a food preparation, the percentage of BEA degradation, resulted variable from 20 to 90%, with no a significative differences showed in the use of the different flour matrices. Also a metabolite of the thermical degradation of the mycotoxins BEA was identified using the LC–MS in the full scan mode.

The aim of the present research was to verify if photo-selective hail nettings can be used to affect fruit quality at harvest and during cold-storage, in addition to hail protection. The study was carried out in Southern Italy on 7-year-old Hayward kiwifruit vines. Four types of photo-selective hail nettings (blue, grey, red, and white) were compared with an un-netted control. The nettings affected differentially and significantly most of the qualitative parameters measured in this study. Both the white and the red nets appeared to be very interesting because they allowed a high dry matter accumulation in the fruit. This was translated into a high soluble solids concentration in the fruits during cold-storage. The blue and grey nets tended to affect negatively the percentage of dry matter and soluble solids content of fruit. This may be due to shading effects. In addition, the white and the blue nets had a slight negative effect on flesh chlorophyll concentration and colour. All the tested nets decreased polyphenol concentration and antioxidant activity of the kiwifruit at harvest. It is proposed that in case hail protection is a must, the right choice of photo-selective hail nets can lead to additional benefits, making the netting more cost-effective for the growers.

In the light of the growing interest in food and food products obtained through organic and environmentally friendly techniques, the present work represents the first approach to the evaluation of the biological profile of some Sicilian honeys produced in purity by the local black honeybees. Samples exhibited up to 10 times more total phenolics and higher antioxidant capacity than what already reported for the same variety of honeys produced by other honeybee subspecies from Sicily, other Italian regions and abroad. Noteworthy, the gallic acid contents in medlar and almond honeys represented the highest level of single phenolic acid reported in honey so far. A broad antimicrobial spectrum was showed by all of the honey samples and a good correlation between their inhibition capacity and polyphenolic contents was measured. Experimental results highlighted samples among the honeys characterised by the highest nutraceutical added value and most excellent quality.

The present review summarises data on the prevalence and concentration of fusaproliferin, beauvericin and enniatins in small grains, maize and processed grain-based foods. These fungal secondary metabolites possess interesting biological activities and are presently often referred to as 'emerging mycotoxins'. They have been considered as less important since they are likely not of acute toxicity. However, their high prevalence in foodstuffs, occasionally in higher mg/kg concentrations, warrants an assessment of their true importance for food (and feed) safety. Thorough surveys that determine the contamination of raw and processed foods with fusaproliferin, beauvericin and enniatins are still scarce and are generally limited to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. The reported data suggest a connection between the observed concentrations and climate. The data further suggest that humans might be exposed continuously to low levels of enniatins as these compounds were of particularly high prevalence in the surveys. The highest concentrations of enniatins were reported from Spain and Northern Africa (maximum concentration of enniatin A1 814 mg/kg in rice from the Spanish market), while concentrations were significantly lower in Northern Europe (maximum concentration of enniatin B 18.3 mg/kg in wheat from Finland). Beauvericin appears to be of low significance in grains from cooler climates while it has been reported to occur at concentrations of tens of mg/ kg in Southern Europe and Morocco (maximum concentration 59 mg/kg in maize from Morocco). Fusaproliferin has been least investigated. Several reports from the Mediterranean show its occasional occurrence up to 19.6 mg/ kg in rice from Morocco, while its natural occurrence in cooler climates seems to be more rare.

Background: Weather conditions can selectively promote the growth of particular fungal species, which cause rotting and spoilage of grape berries before harvest. The presence of pathogenic fungi can lead to the development of opportunist microfungi that can produce mycotoxins and cause grapes and wine contamination. Objective: The variation of climatic conditions allowed to design a pilot study and address relevant questions for risk assessment of climate related mycotoxins production in grapes and in wine. Methods: Microfungi contaminating berries during the vegetative period of year 2008 and 2009 in vineyards regions of Slovakia at the early veraison and at the ripening in harvest time have been identified. Results: Spoilage fungi were more abundant in veraison for both years in all the studied geographical regions, with an average temperature of 20. °C, humidity between 60 and 80%, and precipitation in the range 6-5. mm. Much more strains of toxigenic fungi were found during veraison and ripening in the case of a year temperature variation in the range 17-22.5. °C, humidity values ranging from 58 to 80% and precipitations in the range 0.7-8.4. mm. Conclusions: The results suggest that there is an effect of the climatic conditions on microfungi biodiversity. . © 2011 Revista Iberoamericana de Micología.

Fumonisins are mycotoxins produced by Fusarium verticillioides that commonly contaminate maize and maize products. The present work shows the results of a comparative study of three different fermentation's techniques (solid and liquid medium of corn and a solid agarized medium) for the production of fumonisins B-1, B-2 and B-3 with strains of F. verticillioides. The solid medium of corn was the most effective in the production of fumonisins, being Fumonisin B-1 the one produced with higher concentration, so the extract obtained by solid fermentation process was used for FB1 purification. Fumonisins characterization and quantification were performed with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry. The role of production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in Fumonisin B1 mediated toxicology has not been fully addresses in studies exploring FB1 toxicity. It is evaluated the level of ROS production in kidney cell line (VERO) exposed to 1, 5 and 10 mu M of FB1 for 0.5-100 min. The ROS level was detected using a fluorescence probe, 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA), which could be converted to highly fluorescent dichlorofluorescein (DCF) with the presence of intracellular ROS. Significant increase of ROS products was observed in VERO cells at 10 mu M dose. These results indicate that ROS production by FBI on renal cells is a mechanism of fumonisin mediated toxicity. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

To produce enniatin (ENs), Fusarium tricinctum CECT 20150 was grown in a liquid medium of potato (PDB), being mycotoxin purified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a reverse phase semipreparative column using a mobile phase of acetonitrile/water using gradient condition. The purity of the ENs fractions was verified by analytical HPLC and LC/MS-MS. The pure fractions of ENs were utilized to study the biological activity on several mycotoxigenic moulds as Fusarium verticilloides, Fusarium sporotrichioides, Fusarium tricinctum, Fusarium poae, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium proliferatum, Beauveria bassiana, Trichoderma harzianum, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus ochraceus and Penicillium expansum. The results obtained demonstrated that in several antibiograms, ENs induced the inhibition of the grown microorganisms tested.

Enniatins (ENs) are antibiotic compounds of hexadepsipeptidic structure produced by several strains of Fusarium spp. The ENs A, A(1), B, B-1 were purified from extracts of Fusarium tricinctum grown on a solid medium of corn, by a low pressure liquid chromatography (LPLC) on reverse phase of Amberlite XAD-7 followed by semipreparative LC. The purity and the structure of the isolated compounds were confirmed by LC-MS/MS. The technique of the purification of the fungal extract enabled complete separation of the ENs A, A(1), B, B-1 with a mean purity of 97% for all the compounds. The cytoxicity of the ENs was tested in the cell lines of human origin (epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma cells, Caco-2) by MTT assays. Only EN A(1) and B-1 evoked toxicity at the tested concentrations. The inhibitory concentration (IC50) for EN A(1) on Caco-2 cells was 12.3 mu M, whereas the IC50 produced by the EN B-1 was 19.5 mu M. This study indicates that ENs, fungal metabolites that are commonly found in corn and in general in product composed by corn, may have a toxic potential for human health. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aspergillus niger is a significant component of the fungal community on grapes. The mycotoxin fumonisin B2 (FB2) was recently detected in grape must and wine as well as in cultures of some A. niger strains isolated from grapes and raisins. This study examined 48 strains of Aspergillus section Nigri for the presence of the fumonisin biosynthetic gene fum8 in relation to FB2 production. The fum8 gene was detected in only 11 A. niger strains, 9 of which also produced FB2. Maximum parsimony analysis based on the calmodulin gene sequence indicated that the presence/absence of fum8 is not correlated with the phylogenetic relationship of the isolates. This is the first report correlating the presence of a fumonisin biosynthetic gene with fumonisin production in A. niger from an important food crop. The results suggest that the absence of FB2 production in grape isolates of A. niger can result from the absence of at least one gene essential for production.