Analysis of Mycotoxins Contamination in Poultry Feeds Manufactured in Selected Provinces of South Africa Using UHPLC-MS/MS

A total of 105 different types of poultry feed samples from South Africa were simultaneously analysed for the presence of 16 mycotoxins using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (UHPLC-MS/MS). The data revealed the presence of 16 mycotoxins in the various poultry feed samples. Fumonisin B1 (FB1) was the most dominant recovered from 100% of samples analysed at concentrations ranging between 38.7 and 7125.3 &micro
g/kg. This was followed by zearalenone (ZEN) (range: 0.1&ndash
429 &micro
g/kg) and deoxynivalenol (DON) (range: 2.5&ndash
154 &micro
g/kg). Samples were also found to be contaminated with fumonisin B2 (FB2) (range: 0.7&ndash
125.1 &micro
g/kg), fumonisin B3 (FB3) (range: 0.1&ndash
g/kg), &alpha
zearalenol (&alpha
ZEL) (range: 0.6&ndash
20 &micro
g/kg ), &beta
zearalenol (&beta
ZEL) (range: 0.2&ndash
22.1 &micro
g/kg), 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-ADON) (range: 0.1&ndash
12.9 &micro
g/kg) and 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (15-ADON) (range: 1.7&ndash
41.9 &micro
g/kg). Alternaria mycotoxin, i.e., Alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) was recovered in 100% of samples at concentrations that ranged from 0.3&ndash
155.5 &micro
g/kg. Aflatoxins (AFs) had an incidence rate of 92% with generally low concentration levels ranging from 0.1&ndash
3.7 &micro
g/kg. Apart from these metabolites, 2 type A trichothecenes (THs), i.e., HT-2 toxin (HT-2) (range: 0.2&ndash
5.9 &micro
g/kg) and T-2 toxin (T-2) (range: 0.1&ndash
15.3 &micro
g/kg) were also detected. Mycotoxin contamination in South African poultry feed constitutes a concern as correspondingly high contamination levels, such as those observed herein are likely to affect birds, which can be accompanied by severe health implications, thus compromising animal productivity in the country. Such exposures, primarily to more than one mycotoxin concurrently, may elicit noticeable synergistic and or additive effects on poultry birds.