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The interest in tropane alkaloids (TA) as food contaminants is increasing. A sensitive and selective LC-MS/MS method was applied for the analysis of corn puff samples from the Serbian market. Only atropine was quantified in 22% of the samples. In case of scopolamine, although not quantified, it was detected in 22% of the samples. Whether the acute reference dose (ARfD) could be exceeded was checked on a case-by-case basis for the individual products under assessment. Due to their low body weight and relatively high snack consumption, preschool children were at the highest risk of TA exposure. Assuming that the average consumption is 50 g of corn puffs per day, the sample with the highest concentration of TAs (2.05 μg/kg, 1.58 μg/kg of atropine) could contribute with 32.0% to the ARfD, of which 24.7% owing to atropine. If the same amount of corn puffs is consumed by older age classes, corresponding exposure contributions to the ARfD would progressively decline, down to 8.4% for adult population. The study revealed no health risk from TAs exposure through the consumption of the corn puffs in Serbian population.

Mycotoxins are highly toxic compounds produced by molds that commonly occur in cereal grains. These toxins can have adverse effects on human and animal health. Mycotoxin decontamination procedures can be divided into three different groups: chemical, biological and physical. Procedures from the first two groups are often regarded as unacceptable for lowering the mycotoxin level. A laboratory brush was developed for the purpose of physical cleaning of corn kernel. Three samples of commercially available corn kernels were subjected to the brushing procedure in order for the experimental study to be conducted. The mass of 100g of corn kernels was placed on motionless screen of the brush. A rotating part of the experimental device, the polypropylene bristle brush was set to high­er speed (higher than 800 rpm). During the corn brushing, dust and broken kernels were brushed out through the motionless screen. Corn samples were taken before and after the brushing procedure and they were analyzed for aflatoxin concentration by HPLC-UV RED. By comparing the control and brushed samples, it can be noticed that removal of fines caused the reduction in the level of mycotoxins in all three brushed samples.

The cereal grains, which represent the cultivated grasses fruits, supply almost half of the total caloric requirements for humans and provide more nourishment compared with any other class of the food. Out of many cereals used for food, maize, rice, and wheat are the most important food resources for humans, representing 94% of the total cereals consumption. According to the data of the Republic Institute of Statistics for the year 2018, the harvested areas of corn amount to 906,753 hectares. The production of about 7 million tons was achieved with an average yield of 7.7 t/ha according to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Serbia. Serbia is still among the ten largest exporters of wheat and corn in the world for the period of 2014/15–2017/18. More precisely, it ranks seventh in the export of corn. Utilization of maize products for food animal nutrition (1000 t) is 491,48, and for industrial processing (1000 t) 278,862 expressed as the total consumption (1000 t) is 769,910. Therefore, a total of 103 samples of maize products were analyzed for the presence of toxins, i.e., tropane alkaloids (TAs). The samples were collected from the retail stores in the Republic of Serbia in 2021 and analyzed for the presence of atropine and scopolamine (33 corn grits, 39 polenta, and 31 semolina samples). Therefore, the Recommendation 2015/976/EU on the monitoring of TAs in food was adopted by the EU Commission to obtain more occurrence data on TAs in food. The monitoring extent, however, is restricted because reliable analytical methods and appropriate sensitivity are limited. There was a limit of 1 g/kg for each atropine and scopolamine in cereals containing millet, sorghum, buckwheat, or their derivatives. All the samples were analyzed by the LC-MS/MS. The LOQ was set at 1.0 μg/kg. Out of the total 103 tested samples, 32 samples (31.1%) were contaminated with atropine and scopolamine in concentrations above the LOQ. The highest concentrations of the studied TAs were observed in a semolina sample-atropine: 58.80 μg/kg, scopolamine: 10.20 μg/kg. The obtained results indicate that the TAs concentrations are above the LOQ which can be considered potential human and animal health hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Phytotoxic substances released by invasive plants have been reported to have anti-pathogen, anti-herbivore, and allelopathic activity. The aim of this study was to determine the allelopathic influence of the Ambrosia trifida L. on oxidative stress parameters (the lipid peroxidation process; reduced glutathione (GSH) content; and activity of antioxidant enzymes catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and peroxidase (PX)) and phenolic compounds (total phenolic and tannin content) in maize (Zea mays L.), soybean (Glycine max L.), and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) crops to explore the effect of released allelochemicals through A. trifida root on crops. An analysis by HPLC confirmed the presence of protocatechuic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid, and syringic acid as major components in the A. trifida. Based on the obtained results for oxidative stress parameters, it can be concluded that the sunflower was the most sensitive species to A. trifida allelochemicals among the tested crops. The other two crops tested showed a different sensitivity to A. trifida. The soybean did not show sensitivity, while the maize showed sensitivity only 10 days after the sowing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]