Occurrence of mycotoxins in cereals and animal feedstuffs in Natal, South Africa 1994

During the year of 1994, 417 samples of agricultural commodities, comprising: maize, compound animal feeds, oil seeds, soya bean, fish meal and forage were examined for fungi and over 20 mycotoxins using a multi-screen augmented with individual assays. Trichothecenes had the highest incidence of over 19% in all samples received, followed by aflatoxin at 6% and then zearalenone at 3%. Selected samples (73) were analyzed for fumonisin B1 and of these, 69 (94%) were found to be positive. Because of this result and high incidence of Fusarium spp. (over 70%) in maize and maize containing feeds, which was higher than either Aspergillus spp. (19%) or Penicillium spp. (33%), attention is drawn to the actual and potential presence of fumonisin in the food chain.