Aprofood's food testing experts are committed to ensuring your food is safe. We can provide a full chain of testing services covering a wide range of common mycotoxins in food, providing you with accurate and timely results in a single visit, helping you avoid the risk of product recalls.
Food Mycotoxins
Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by different types of fungi under specific conditions. They usually enter the food chain during the harvesting and storage of crops and are widely present in staple foods such as wheat, corn and sorghum, nuts like peanuts and almonds, as well as processed foods such as soy sauce and beer. To date, more than 400 types of mycotoxins have been identified. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 25% of the global food supply is contaminated by mycotoxins. Timely detection of mycotoxins in food can help prevent contaminated food from entering the market and being consumed, thereby safeguarding public health.
Fig 1. Major types of mycotoxins in food commodities. (Pandey A K, et al.,2023)
Our Service
Aprofood is equipped with advanced sample processing and analysis equipment, ensuring accurate detection of trace contaminants. Some of our testing methods have achieved partial automation, enabling us to provide quick and accurate results.
Mycotoxin Testing Services
| Test Items |
Details |
Sample Type |
| Aflatoxins |
Produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, including AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, and AFG2 |
Corn, peanuts, nuts, rice, edible oils, and dairy products |
| Ochratoxin A (OTA) |
Produced by toxigenic fungal strains such as Aspergillus ochraceus and Penicillium verrucosum |
Grains (wheat, barley), coffee beans, raisins, wine |
| Zearalenone (ZEN) |
Produced by Fusariumspecies, including zearalenone (ZEN) and its derivatives (α-zearalenol and β-zearalenol) |
Corn, soybeans, bran, feed, flour |
| Trichothecene |
Produced by Fusariumspecies, including deoxynivalenol (DON) and diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS) |
Corn, wheat, barley, feed |
| Fumonisins |
Produced by Fusarium verticillioides, including fumonisin B1 (FB1) and fumonisin B2 (FB2) |
Corn, corn products (DDGS), feed |
| T-2 Toxins |
Produced by Fusariumspecies, including T-2 toxin and its metabolite HT-2 toxin |
Grains, hops, feed |
| Alternaria Toxins |
Produced by Alternariaspecies, including the allergenic mycotoxins alternariol (AOH) and tenuazonic acid (TEN) |
Apples and their products, citrus fruits, nuts |
| Patulin (PTL) |
Produced by several fungal species including Penicillium expansum, comprising patulin (PAT) and its metabolite patulinic acid |
Apples and their products, infant food, raisins, fermented foods |
| Ergot Alkaloids |
Produced by Claviceps purpurea (ergot fungus), including ergometrine, ergosine, ergotamine, ergocornine, ergocristine, and ergocryptine (along with their respective inine-base derivatives) |
Barley, wheat and their products |
| Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids |
Phytotoxic compounds produced by plants of the Boraginaceae family (including Seneciospp.), comprising senecionine and retrorsine |
Chinese medicinal herbs, health supplements |
| Tropane Alkaloids |
Phytotoxic alkaloids produced by plants of the Atropagenus and Daturagenus, including hyoscyamine and scopolamine |
Chinese medicinal herbs, health supplements |
| Microcystins (MCs) |
Toxins produced by cyanobacterial genera including Microcystisand Anabaena, comprising cyclic heptapeptides such as microcystins-LR, -RR, and -YR |
Aquaculture feed, blue-green algae products |
| Amanitin |
A cyclic peptide toxin found in poisonous mushrooms, comprising α-amanitin and β-amanitin |
Mushroom products |
Aprofood employs advanced technologies including HPLC-FLD, LC-MS/MS, and immunoaffinity column cleanup to achieve highly sensitive quantification of mycotoxins at trace levels (ppb range), helping clients mitigate food recall risks associated with fungal toxin contamination. Contact us today to get started.
Reference:
- Pandey A K.; et al. Fungal mycotoxins in food commodities: present status and future concerns[J]. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. 2023, 7: 1162595.
For Research Use Only.
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