Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sterigmatocystin and aflatoxin B1 contamination of corn, soybean meal, and formula feed in Japan

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Mycotoxin Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Sterigmatocystin (STC) and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) were analyzed in 246 corn samples, 126 soybean meal samples, and 861 formula feed samples from the Japanese market between April 2010 and March 2015. The detection rate, the highest concentration, and the mean concentration of STC were respectively 14%, 6.4 μg/kg, and 1.2 μg/kg for corn; 14%, 1.1 μg/kg, and 0.63 μg/kg for soybean meal; and 43%, 9.1 μg/kg, and 0.97 μg/kg for formula feed. The detection rate, the highest concentration, and the mean concentration of AFB1 were respectively 46%, 24 μg/kg, and 3.9 μg/kg for corn; 30%, 6.7 μg/kg, and 1.1 μg/kg for soybean meal; and 47%, 20 μg/kg, and 1.6 μg/kg for formula feed. A weak negative correlation between the STC and AFB1 concentrations was observed: there was a high concentration of AFB1 in samples that contained a lower concentration of STC and vice versa. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient showed a weak negative correlation of − 0.30 (p < 0.001, n = 128) for corn and − 0.23 (p < 0.001, n = 575) for formula feed. In conclusion, no correlation was observed between the mean concentrations of STC contamination in formula feed (0.97 μg/kg) and in corn (1.2 μg/kg) and the blending rate (approximately 50%). The rate of STC contamination in the formula feed (43%) was higher than that in corn (14%). Therefore, it is likely that ingredients other than corn contribute to the contamination of formula feed with STC. In this study, regarding STC, problematic samples were not found.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abd Alla EA, Metwally MM, Mehriz AM, Abu Sree YH (1996) Sterigmatocystin: incidence, fate and production by Aspergillus versicolor in Ras cheese. Nahrung 40:310–313

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Abdel-Mallek AY, El-Maraghy SSM, Hasan HAH (1993) Mycotoxin-producing potential of some Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium isolates found on corn grains and sunflowers seeds in Egypt. Med J Islamic World Acad Sci 6:189–192

    Google Scholar 

  • Baertschi SW, Raney KD, Shimada T, Harris TM, Guengerich FP (1989) Comparison of rates of enzymatic oxidation of aflatoxin B1, aflatoxin G1, and sterigmatocystin and activities of the epoxides in forming guanyl-N7 adducts and inducing different genetic responses. Chem Res Toxicol 2:114–122

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Betina V (1989) Chemical, biological and environmental aspects. In: bioactive molecules Vol 9. Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, p 437

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhatnagar D, McCormick SP, Lee LS, Hill RA (1987) Identification of O-methylsterigmatocystin as an aflatoxin B1 and G1 precursor in Aspergillus parasiticus. Appl Environ Microbiol 53:1028–1033

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Buckle AE (1983) The occurrence of mycotoxins in cereals and animal feed-stuffs. Vet Res Commun 7:171–186

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Creppy EE (2002) Update of survey, regulation and toxic effects of mycotoxins in Europe. Toxicol Lett 127:19–28

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) (2013) Scientific opinion on the risk for public and animal health related to the presence of sterigmatocystin in food and feed. EFSA J 11:3254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frisvad JC, Nielsen KF, Samson RA (2006) Recommendations concerning the chronic problem of misidentification of mycotoxigenic fungi associated with foods and feeds. Adv Exp Med Biol 571:33–46

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fukunaka R, Hiraoka H (2006) Simultaneous determination of 11 kinds of mycotoxins in feed by LC-MS/MS. research report of animal feed 31. Incorporated Administrative Agency Fertilizer and Feed Inspection Services, Saitama

    Google Scholar 

  • International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) (1993) Some naturally occurring substances: food items and constituents, heterocyclic aromatic amines and mycotoxins. IARC Monogr Eval Carcinog Risks Hum 56. IARC, Lyon, France:523–524

    Google Scholar 

  • ISO International Standard Organization (2002) ISO 6497 animal feeding stuffs- sampling. Switzerland, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Kovalenko AV, Soldatenko NA, Fetisov LN, Strel’tsov NV (2011) More accurate determination of the minimum allowable level of sterigmatocystin in piglet feed. Russ Agric Sci 37:504–507

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manabe M, Tsuruta O, Tanaka K, Matsuura S (1976) Distribution of mycotoxin-producing Aspergillus in Japan. Proc Jap Assoc Mycotoxicol 3(4):31–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mol HGJ, Pietri A, MacDonald SJ, Anagnostopoulos C (2015) Spanjer M (2015) external scientific report. Survey on sterigmatocystin in food. EFSA Support Publ EN-774:1–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Mori H, Sugie S, Yoshimi N, Kitamura J, Niwa M, Hamasaki T, Kawai K (1986) Genotoxic effects of a variety of sterigmatocystin-related compounds in the hepatocyte/DNA-repair test and the Salmonella microsome assay. Mutat Res 173:217–222

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Northolt MD, van Egmond HP, Soentoro P, Deijll E (1980) Fungal growth and the presence of sterigmatocystin in hard cheese. J Assoc Off Anal Chem 63:115–119

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ohtsubo K, Saito M, Kimura H (1978) High incidence of hepatic tumours in rats fed mouldy rice contaminated with Aspergillus versicolor containing sterigmatocystin. Food Cosmet Toxicol 16:143–149

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ozay G, Heperkan D (1989) Mould and mycotoxin contamination of stored corn in Turkey. Mycotoxin Res 5:81–89

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pitt JI, Hocking AD (1997) Fungi and food spoilage. Blackie Academic and Professional, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Purchase IF, Pretorius ME (1972) Sterigmatocystin in coffee beans. J Assoc Off Anal Chem 56:225–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Purchase IF, van der Watt JJ (1969) Acute toxicity of sterigmatocystin to rats. Food Cosmet Toxicol 7:135–139

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Purchase IF, Van Der Watt JJ (1970) Carcinogenicity of sterigmatocystin. Food Cosmet Toxicol 8:289–295

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rabie CJ, Steyn M, van Schalkwyk GC (1977) New species of Aspergillus producing sterigmatocystin. Appl Environ Microbiol 33:1023–1025

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rank C, Nielsen KF, Larsen TO, Varga J, Samson RA, Frisvad JC (2011) Distribution of sterigmatocystin in filamentous fungi. Fungal Biol 115:406–420

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scudamore KA, Hetmanski MT, Chan HK, Collins S (1997) Occurrence of mycotoxins in raw ingredients used for animal feeding stuffs in the United Kingdom in 1992. Food Addit Contam 14:157–173

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scudamore KA, Hetmanski MT, Clarke PA, Barnes KA, Startin JR (1996) Analytical methods for the determination of sterigmatocystin in cheese, bread and corn products using HPLC with atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometric detection. Food Addit Contam 13:343–358

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Soares LM, Rodriguez-Amaya DB (1989) Survey of aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, zearalenone, and sterigmatocystin in some Brazilian foods by using multi-toxin thin-layer chromatographic method. J Assoc Off Anal Chem 72:22–26

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stroka J, Dasko L, Spangenberg B, Anklam E (2004) Determination of the mycotoxin, sterigmatocystin, by thin-layer chromatography and reagent-free derivatisation. J Liq Chromatogr Relat Technol 27:2101–2111

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi H, Yasaki H, Nanayama U (1984) Distribution of sterigmatocystin and fungal mycelium in individual brown rice kernels naturally infected by Aspergillus versicolor. Cereal Chem 61:48–52

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Terao K (1975) Factors on the mechanism of mycotoxicosis induced by aflatoxin, sterigmatocystin and related compounds. JSM Mycotoxins 1:6–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terao K (1980) The significance of study of sterigmatocystin intoxication. Proc Jap Assoc Mycotoxicol 12:2–4

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Terao K (1983) Sterigmatocystin—a masked potent carcinogenic mycotoxin. J Toxicol Toxin Rev 2:77–110

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Grains Council, Corn Harvest Quality Report (2012/13) U.S. Grains Council, Washington, DC, 46 pp Available at: https://grains.org/sites/default/files/Harvest%20Report%20Final%20121205.pdf. Accessed 2 May 2017

  • U.S. Grains Council, Corn Harvest Quality Report (2015/16) U.S. Grains Council, Washington, DC, 54 pp Available at: http://grains.org/sites/default/files/HarvestReport-20151216.pdf. Accessed 2 May 2017

  • Veršilovskis A, Bartkevičs V (2012) Stability of sterigmatocystin during the bread making process and its occurrence in bread from the Latvian market. Mycotoxin Res 28:123–129

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Veršilovskis A, Bartkevičs V, Miķelsone V (2008a) Sterigmatocystin presence in typical Latvian grains. Food Chem 109:243–248

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Veršilovskis A, De Saeger S, Mikelsone V (2008b) Determination of sterigmatocystin in beer by high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. World Mycotoxin J 1:161–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warth B, Parich A, Atehnkeng J, Bandyopadhyay R, Schuhmacher R, Sulyok M, Krska R (2012) Quantitation of mycotoxins in food and feed form Burkina Faso and Mozambique using a modern LC-MS/MS multitoxin method. J Agric Food Chem 60:9352–9363

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Youssef MS, El-Maghraby OMO, Ibrahim YM (2008) Mycobiota and mycotoxins of Egyptian peanut (Arachis hypogeae L.) seeds. Int J Bot 4:349–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao Y, Huang J, Ma L, Liu S, Wang F (2017) Aflatoxin B1 and sterigmatosystin survey in beer sold in China. Food Addit Contam Part B 410:34964–36068

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Food and Agricultural Materials Inspection Center, Fertilizer and Feed Inspection Department, Saitama Shintoshin National Government Building, Kensato Building, Shintoshin 2-1, Chuo-ku, Saitama-shi, Saitama, 330-9731, Japan

    Masayo Nomura, Koji Aoyama & Takayuki Ishibashi

Authors
  1. Masayo Nomura
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Koji Aoyama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Takayuki Ishibashi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Masayo Nomura.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

None.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nomura, M., Aoyama, K. & Ishibashi, T. Sterigmatocystin and aflatoxin B1 contamination of corn, soybean meal, and formula feed in Japan. Mycotoxin Res 34, 21–27 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12550-017-0295-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12550-017-0295-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation