Determination of Fusarium mycotoxins enniatins, beauvericin and fusaproliferin in cereals and derived products from Tunisia

In this study, 51 samples of cereals (wheat, Barley, maize and Sorghum) and by-products (mainly pasta and couscous) purchased from Tunisian supermarkets were examined for contamination with the emerging Fusarium mycotoxins: Enniatins ENs (EN A, EN A1, EN B and EN B1), beauvericin (BEA) and fusaproliferin (FUS). The extraction of the samples was performed with methanol using an Ultra-turrax homogenizer. Mycotoxins were analyzed with a liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to a diode array detector (DAD). The frequencies of contamination of total samples with ENs were 96%. EN A1 was the most common EN found with the highest prevalence of 92.1%, levels ranged between 11.1 and 480 mg/kg. EN B was evidenced in 35 samples and levels ranged from 1.5 to 295 mg/kg. EN B1 was detected in 20 samples (39.2%) and levels varied from 4.8 to 120.1 mg/kg and EN A was detected in 14 samples with contamination levels ranging between 19.6 and 121.3 mg/kg. The maximum concentration of total ENs in a single sample was 683.9 mg/kg (sorghum). The analytical results also showed that all the analyzed samples were free of BEA and FUS. The present work is the first one ever drafted on the presence of the emerging Fusarium mycotoxins in Tunisian cereals and derived products