Negligible Levels of Mycotoxin Contamination in Durum Wheat and Groundnuts from Non-Intensive Rainfed Production Systems

Paola De Santis, Dejene K. Mengistu, Yosef Gebrehawaryat Kidane, Rose Nankya, Barbara De Santis, Gabriele Moracci, Francesca Debegnach, Riccardo Marsiglia and Massimo Reverberi
Additional contact information
Paola De Santis: Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, Italy
Dejene K. Mengistu: Alliance of Bioversity International and The International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Addis Ababa P.O. Box 5689, Ethiopia
Yosef Gebrehawaryat Kidane: Alliance of Bioversity International and The International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Addis Ababa P.O. Box 5689, Ethiopia
Rose Nankya: Alliance of Bioversity International and The International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Kampala P.O. Box 24384, Uganda
Barbara De Santis: Chemical Food Safety Unit, Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health Italian National Institute of Health, 00161 Rome, Italy
Gabriele Moracci: Chemical Food Safety Unit, Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health Italian National Institute of Health, 00161 Rome, Italy
Francesca Debegnach: Chemical Food Safety Unit, Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health Italian National Institute of Health, 00161 Rome, Italy
Riccardo Marsiglia: Chemical Food Safety Unit, Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health Italian National Institute of Health, 00161 Rome, Italy
Massimo Reverberi: Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 18, 1-18

Abstract: Mycotoxins are chemical contaminants that are invisible, tasteless, chemically stable and survive food processing. Contamination along the agri-food chain is difficult to control since their production and spreading are due to numerous factors including temperature, relative humidity, insect infestation, and susceptibility of the host plant. This is a pilot study which aims at assessing the contamination level of deoxynivalenol (DON), and its plant metabolites (3AcDON, 15 AcDON, DON 3G), nivalenol, T-2 and HT-2 toxins, and ochratoxin A in thirty-seven traditional varieties of Ethiopian durum wheat, and aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 in thirty-one varieties of Ugandan groundnuts grown in non-intensive rainfed production systems. Results indicate absence of mycotoxin contamination in all durum wheat samples and negligible levels of contamination (below the maximum levels tolerated by international standards) in groundnut samples. Further studies are required to assess if non-intensive production systems and varieties have a role in preventing and/or reducing mycotoxin contamination of the crops.

Keywords: deoxynivalenol; ochratoxin; nivalenol; aflatoxins; Ethiopia; Uganda; durum wheat; peanuts; non-intensive production system; modern variety; traditional variety; intraspecific diversity; genetic resources (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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