New implementation – Alternaria toxins

AGROLAB LUFA in Kiel now offers the quantitative determination of alternaria toxins as an accredited LC-MS/MS method.

Alternaria toxins are produced by Alternaria species. These fungi are also called black mold, because the spores and hyphae of the fungus appear brownish-black due to the incorporation of melamine. There are about 70 subspecies that grow mainly in the soil, as well as plants and foliage. Infestation of cultivated plants also occurs. Cereals are attacked by Alternaria fungi during wet weather. Fruits and vegetables can also be attacked by the black fungi.

Of the toxic secondary metabolites, only a few are found in food; these include alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), tentoxin (TEN), tenuazonic acid (TeA).

Alternaria toxins have become a greater focus of food safety monitoring in recent years. This has led to the establishment of indicative values and an EU-wide monitoring recommendation to monitor the presence of these toxins ¹⁾. In particular, data are to be collected on the levels of AOH, AME and TeA in processed tomato products, paprika powder, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, sunflower oil, nuts, dried figs and processed cereal-based foods for infants and young children. The reporting of indicative value exceedances are of particular importance in order to derive appropriate limit value definitions in the future.

Indicative level for alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether and tenuazonic acid in certain foods, based on the available data in the EFSA database, above which investigations should be performed, on the factors leading to the presence of Alternaria toxins or on the effect of food processing. The indicative levels are not food safety levels.

 Quelle: Commission Recommendation (EU) 2022/553 of 5 April 2022¹⁾

Our LCMS/MS multimethods include the following alternariatoxins with their limits of quantification, which can be used to reliably test compliance with the above mentioned indicative values:

Your PLUS: AGROLAB LUFA is one of the leading laboratories in the analysis of mycotoxins with a broad spectrum of tests and decades of experience.

Link:¹⁾ Commission Recommendation (EU) 2022/553 of 5 April 2022 on monitoring the presence of Alternaria toxins in food: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ 

Author: Dr. Frank Mörsberger