Medicinal materials may be contaminated with a broad variety of fungi, which are represented by Aspergillus spp, Penlicillium spp, Fusarium spp, Rhizopus spp, Mucor spp et al. This fact limits the utilization of medicinal materials, besides, medicinal materials may also be contaminated with mycotoxins produced by these fungi, and bring harm to human health. Several mycotoxins have been detected in medicinal materials, such as AFTs, OTA, FBs, et al. The contamination may originate from the conditions in which the medicinal plants are cultivated, stored and in the finished product manufacturing stages. Some methods have been used for detoxifcation and disinfection for medicinal materials, but they have limited effects. Taking into consideration the background situation, it is important for medicinal materials to be protected from contamination of fungi at every stage of production. The present study intends to give a review of contamination of medicinal materials by moulds and mycotoxins and discuss the factors influencing this situation, expecting to contribute to the knowledge for reducing the contamination.
Drug Contamination ; prevention & control ; Fungi ; isolation & purification ; Mycotoxins ; analysis

A suitable ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the determination of 11 mycotoxins with isotope internal standard in malt. The mycotoxins in malt were extracted and purified by one-step ultrasonic extraction procedure using acetonitrile/water/acetic acid (80 : 19 : 1), and then detected and confirmed by UPLC-MS/MS, and quantified by isotope labeled AFB1 ([13C17]-AFB1) and ZEN ([13C18]-ZEN) internal standards. Rapid separation of the 11 mycotoxins was successfully achieved on a Phenomenex Kinetex C18 column (100 mm x 2.1 mm, 2.6 μm) with gradient elution using the mobile phase of methanol containing 0.1% formic acid and 2 mmol x L(-1) ammonium acetate in water. Simultaneous acquisition was performed in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode with electrospray ionization (ESI) source operated in both positive and negative ionization modes. The established method provided a good linearity for the 11 mycotoxins within their respective linear ranges with correlation coefficients all higher than 0.999 1. The average recoveries ranged from 75.0% to 117.0% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) below 5.1%. The limits of detection (LODs) and quantitation (LOQs) ranged from 0.05 to 30 μg x kg(-1) and 0.15 to 87.5 μg x kg(-1), respectively, which were below the maximum residue levels (MRLs) set by the European Union. Twenty malt samples were analyzed and nine samples were detected with mycotoxins, which were confirmed according to the same fragment ions found in positive samples and the standards at the same retention time. This study has demonstrated that the one-step extraction procedure of mycotoxins from complex matrices coupled to UPLC-MS/MS method is simple, quick, accurate and sensitive for quantitative and qualitative analysis of multiple mycotoxins in malt.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Fermentation ; Hordeum ; chemistry ; Limit of Detection ; Mycotoxins ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

These studies were carried out to detect the presence of mycotoxin producing fungi in various foodstuffs in Korea. The experiments were divided into three parts: bacteriologic, toxicologic and electron microscopic studies. From the 133 various samples, 425 colonies of fungi were isolated. In 405 of the 426 colonies it was possible to identify 17genera. Among the identified strains the predominant genera were Penicillum, Aspergillus and Alternaria. In the cytotoxicity test, 18 strains showed imld to severe toxic effects in mice, 19 strains showed toxic effects on HeLa cells. In electron microscopic studies of liver cells from aninals which had been treated with toxin-like substances, the liver cells showed the cytoplasmic changes dilatation of endoplasmic reticulum, swelling of mitochondria and increased number of lipid and glycogen particles. Alterations of nuclear envelape were also noted.
Animal ; Aspergillus/isolation & purification ; Cereals* ; Food Microbiology* ; Fungi* ; Hela Cells ; Human ; Liver/ultrastructure ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Mycotoxins/isolation & purification* ; Penicillium/isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo elucidate the natural occurrence of masked deoxynivalenol (DON-3-G) and other multi-mycotoxins in cereals from parts of China.

METHODSA total of 446 corn and wheat samples harvested in 2007 and 2008 collected from Henan, Hebei, Guangxi, Anhui, Sichuan, Chongqing and Jiangsu provinces were analyzed for DON-3-G and other multi-mycotoxins (including deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEN), nivalenol (NIV), et al) by UPLC-MS/MS.

RESULTSCorn and wheat samples were mainly contaminated by DON and its derivatives as well as ZEN.88% (169/192) of wheat samples were positive for DON (range: 1.5 - 590.7 µg/kg; median: 30.8 µg/kg); 22.9% (44/192) of wheat samples were contaminated with ZEN (range: 1.7 - 3425.0 µg/kg; median: 8.0 µg/kg) and six samples contained ZEN concentration higher than the ZEN tolerance limit of 60 µg/kg. DON was detected in 50.5% (103/204) corn samples (range: 1.6 - 4374.4 µg/kg; median: 94.9 µg/kg); Seven samples contained DON exceeding the tolerance limit of 1000 µg/kg for DON. Additionally, ZEN was found in 41.7% (85/204) corn samples with the concentration between 1.6 µg/kg and 4808.7 µg/kg (median: 48.5 µg/kg) and there were 37 corn samples with ZEN level in the excess of tolerance limit for ZEN (60 µg/kg). DON-3-G was detected in corn and wheat samples for the first time in China with the median level of 21.4 µg/kg and 34.6 µg/kg for wheat and corn, respectively. Wheat was more heavily contaminated with DON-3-G than both 3-acetyl-DON (3-A-DON, median: 4.1 µg/kg) and 15-acetyl-DON (15-A-DON, median: 3.1 µg/kg) (t values were 5.111 and 5.966, respectively, both P values < 0.01). While, the level of 15-A-DON (median: 48.6 µg/kg) in corn was higher than 3-A-DON (median: 6.8 µg/kg) (t = -3.579, P < 0.01). The concentration of DON, DON-3-G, 3-A-DON, 15-A-DON and ZEN in corn were higher than that in wheat (Z values were -3.492, -1.960, -2.467, -8.711 and -6.272, respectively, all P values < 0.05). Wheat (median: 29.0 µg/kg) contained higher NIV in comparison with corn (median: 18.2 µg/kg, Z = -2.086, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONWheat and corn samples from parts of China were contaminated with multi-mycotoxins and DON was the predominant;in comparison of wheat, corn was more heavily contaminated with DON, DON-3-G, 3-A-DON, 15-A-DON and ZEN.

China ; Edible Grain ; chemistry ; microbiology ; Food Contamination ; Food Microbiology ; Fusarium ; isolation & purification ; Mycotoxins ; isolation & purification ; Trichothecenes ; isolation & purification ; Triticum ; chemistry ; microbiology ; Zea mays ; chemistry ; microbiology

OBJECTIVETo study the culture-filtrate producing condition of Fusarium Solani isolated from Astragalus root and explore the mechanism Astragalus root rot disease caused by, in order to find theoretical support for screening resistant germ plasma via mycotoxin.

METHODThe method of germinating seeds in petri dish with filter paper and inhibition method for embryo growth were used to study the biological activity and the specialty of cultural filtrate of 10 F. solani isolates.

RESULTThe toxin produced by F. solani had strong inhibition effect in the different nutrient media, at different temperatures and under different light conditions. With extension of culturing time, embryo inhibition rate went up gradually with the strongest inhibition at the 12th day and the inhibition ratio between 92.0% -52.0%. The toxin produced at 5 degrees C to 35 degrees C inhibited embryo germination of Astragalus differently with the strongest at 25 degrees C, and next to it at 20,30 degrees C. The impact of light on bioactive substances of the toxin was not statistically distinctive, but the 24-hour darkness was benefit to toxin production. PSC had a stronger inhibition rate than the other nutrient media, next to it was PDB. After autoclaving, the toxin still kept toxic to embryo of Astragalus, which indicated that the toxin was tolerant to high temperatures.

CONCLUSIONThe toxin produced by F. solani at different growing condition had strong biological activity, was tolerant to high temperature. The best condition for F. solani to produce toxin was that it was cultured in PSC liquid medium, in dark, at 25 degrees C for 12 d. The toxin produced by isolate HQM40 was non-host specific toxin.

Astragalus Plant ; drug effects ; embryology ; microbiology ; Culture Media ; metabolism ; Culture Techniques ; Fusarium ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; radiation effects ; Germination ; drug effects ; Light ; Mycotoxins ; chemistry ; metabolism ; toxicity ; Plant Diseases ; microbiology ; Plants ; drug effects ; embryology ; Seeds ; drug effects ; physiology