Aflatoxin in Maize Silage Collected from AP Vojvodina, Serbia

The aim of this work was to investigate aflatoxin (AF) occurrence in maize silage samples from 2017 harvest. In total, 30 samples of maize silage (whole plant) for nutrition of milking cows were inspected for AF occurrence. The samples originated from three regions (Bačka, Banat and Srem) in autonomous province (AP) of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia (10 samples collected from each region). In AP Vojvodina, overall AF presence was 67% with its levels ranged from 3.52 to 24.64 µg/kg. Levels were standardized to 12% moisture content in all samples. Regarding each region, the highest presence was observed in Srem (80%) followed by Banat (70%), while the lowest presence was found in Bačka region (50%). However, the average AF contamination levels were not correlated to its presence. The highest AF level of 12.76 µg/kg (ranged from 6.16 to 24.64 µg/kg) was found in Srem region, whereas its lowest level was observed in Banat region (average of 4.40 µg/kg, ranged from 3.52 to 5.28 µg/kg). In the region of Bačka the average AF level was 8.45 µg/kg. Despite high presence, none of the samples contained AF above maximum level set by Serbian regulation (30 µg/kg), while 2 samples from Srem region exceeded the EU maximum level of 20 µg/kg. These results may be a result of warm and dry weather conditions during summer months of 2017, that prevailed on almost entire territory of AP Vojvodina.