engleski

Climate effect on Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxins occurrence in Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) from Tunisia

This study assesses the natural occurrence of aflatoxins (AFs) and of and Aspergillus flavus biomass in pearl millet across different agroecological zones (AEZ) in Tunisia. A total of 220 millet samples prospected from farmers and retail shops across zones (CT.N= coastal north ; CT.C= coastal center ; CT.S= coastal south ; CN.C= continental center) endowed with humid to arid climate were analyzed by LC/ESI–MS/MS for AFs incidence. An accurate and specific detection and quantification of A. flavus was realized with a Syber Green quantitative real time PCR assays for 146 millet samples used to determinate the A. flavus DNA levels. Results revealed that out of 10% of aflatoxins contaminated samples (22/220), 90.9% (20/22) contained AFB1 (106 μg/kg mean). All positives samples were significantly exceeding the European thresholds (4 µg/kg) at high levels ranging from 12.2 to 1046 µg/kg. Statistical analysis, showed a high correlation between the aflatoxins incidence in each agroecological zone and the A. flavus DNA concentration. AFB1 contamination highlighted significant differences between CT.N and CT.C comparing to CT.S and CN.C zones, respectively. The highest levels were recorded in the south coastal zone which is endowed with an arid climate (p<0.05). Furthermore, results showed that grains from the central continental zone (CN.C) had the highest mean A. flavus DNA levels (p<0.001). The present survey revealed the impact of climate change on fungal and mycotoxins production and spurs the use of novel technologies in monitoring system in HACCP strategies to improve the predictions of relative risks.

Pearl millet ; aflatoxin ; Aspergillus ; agroecological zones ; food safety

nije evidentirano