Fate of Mycotoxins in Local-Race Populations of Maize Collected in the Southwest of France, from the Field to the Flour and Meal in Organic Farms

Jean-Michel Savoie (), Laetitia Pinson-Gadais, Rodolphe Vidal and Camille Vindras-Fouillet
Additional contact information
Jean-Michel Savoie: UR 1264 Mycology and Food Safety (MycSA), INRAE (National Research Institute for Agriculture Food and Environment), F-33882 Villenave d’Ornon, France
Laetitia Pinson-Gadais: UR 1264 Mycology and Food Safety (MycSA), INRAE (National Research Institute for Agriculture Food and Environment), F-33882 Villenave d’Ornon, France
Rodolphe Vidal: ITAB (Institut Technique de l’Agriculture Biologique), 149 Rue de Bercy, F-75595 Paris, CEDEX 12, France
Camille Vindras-Fouillet: ITAB (Institut Technique de l’Agriculture Biologique), 149 Rue de Bercy, F-75595 Paris, CEDEX 12, France

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-20

Abstract: Both organic and conventional farmers are confronted with the issue of mycotoxin contamination of maize, but organic farming is considered by the public to present a higher risk. There are also concerns about the sanitary quality of maize processed as a foodstuff and marketed on farms through short distribution channels, and there is a need for data on mycotoxin contamination in such a farming system. With the objective to assess the diversity of contamination levels at harvest and to track the post-harvest fate of mycotoxins, maize grain samples were collected at organic farms from southwest France after harvest, storage and milling. There was a wide range of levels of contamination by trichothecenes A and B, zearalenone, and fumonisins. The presence of ochratoxin A and aflatoxins was scarce. In some farms, but not all, the technique of drying and initial storage in cribs resulted in increased levels of contamination by Fusarium toxins, but not aflatoxins. The transfer of mycotoxins in milling products was higher for flour than for meal. Data are discussed in terms of mycotoxin co-occurrence, correlations between concentrations, and compliance with European Union regulations.

Keywords: Fusarium; corn; contaminant transfer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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