Fusarium Mycotoxins in Maize Field Soils: Method Validation and Implications for Sampling Strategy
While mycotoxins are generally regarded as food contamination issues, there is growing interest in mycotoxins as environmental pollutants. The main sources of trichothecene and zearalenone mycotoxins in the environment are mainly attributed to infested fields, where mycotoxins can wash off in infest...
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Published in | Toxins Vol. 14; no. 2; p. 130 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Switzerland
MDPI AG
09.02.2022
MDPI |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | While mycotoxins are generally regarded as food contamination issues, there is growing interest in mycotoxins as environmental pollutants. The main sources of trichothecene and zearalenone mycotoxins in the environment are mainly attributed to
infested fields, where mycotoxins can wash off in infested plants or harvest residues. Subsequently, mycotoxins inevitably enter the soil. In this context, investigations into the effects, fate, and transport are still needed. However, there is a lack of analytical methods used to determine
toxins in soil matrices. We aimed to validate an analytical method capable of determining the toxins nivalenol (NIV), deoxynivalenol (DON), 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (15-AcDON), and zearalenone (ZEN), at environmentally relevant concentrations, in five contrasting agricultural soils. Soils were spiked at three levels (3, 9 and 15 ng g
), extracted by solid-liquid extraction assisted with ultrasonication, using a generic solvent composition of acetonitrile:water 84:16 (v:v) and measured by LC-HRMS. Method validation was successful for NIV, DON, and 15-AcDON with mean recoveries > 93% and RSD
< 10%. ZEN failed the validation criteria. The validated method was applied to eight conventionally managed maize field soils during harvest season, to provide a first insight into DON, NIV, and 15-AcDON levels. Mycotoxins were present in two out of eight sampled maize fields. Soil mycotoxin concentrations ranged from 0.53 to 19.4 ng g
and 0.8 to 2.2 ng g
for DON and NIV, respectively. Additionally, we found indication that "hot-spot" concentrations were restricted to small scales (<5 cm) with implications for field scale soil monitoring strategies. |
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ISSN: | 2072-6651 2072-6651 |
DOI: | 10.3390/toxins14020130 |