Surveillance of fumonisins in maize-based feeds and cereals from Spain

A survey has been carried out to determine the levels of fumonisins in 171 samples of maize-based feeds and cereals available in Spain. Also, the samples were examined for mold count and fungal species. Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Fusarium were the most frequent genera, and Fusarium and Aphanocladium had the highest individual percentage counts. Regarding Fusarium species, F. moniliforme (47.4%) was the predominant species; F. proliferatum (5.3%) and F. subglutinans (7.0%) were isolated at low frequency. The high-performance liquid chromatography-o-phthaldialdehyde fluorescence method was used for the analysis of fumonisins. The highest levels of fumonisins were detected in maize. Overall, fumonisin B1 (FB1) and fumonisin B2 (FB2) were detected in 79.5 and 14.6%, of samples respectively, with average FB1 levels of 3.3 μg/g and average FB2 levels of 1.7 μg/g. Low levels of fumonisins in wheat, barley, and soybean were detected. This would appear to be the first report of concentrations of fumonisins in these commodities.