Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Mar 25;11(3):180.
doi: 10.3390/toxins11030180.

Reduction of Mycotoxins during Fermentation of Whole Grain Sorghum to Whole Grain Ting (a Southern African Food)

Oluwafemi Ayodeji Adebo  1 , Eugenie Kayitesi  2 , Patrick Berka Njobeh  3
Affiliations

Reduction of Mycotoxins during Fermentation of Whole Grain Sorghum to Whole Grain Ting (a Southern African Food)

Oluwafemi Ayodeji Adebo et al. Toxins (Basel). .

Abstract

Mycotoxins are fungal secondary metabolites that pose health risks to exposed individuals, requiring necessary measures to reduce them. Using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), mycotoxins were quantified in whole grain sorghum and ting subsequently derived from two sorghum varieties (high and low tannin). The whole grain (WG) ting samples were obtained by fermenting sorghum with Lactobacillus fermentum strains (FUA 3165 and FUA 3321). Naturally (spontaneously) fermented WG-ting under the same conditions were equally analysed. Among the mycotoxins investigated, fumonisin B₁ (FB₁), B₂ (FB₂), B₃ (FB₃), T-2 toxin (T-2), zearalenone (ZEA), alpha-zearalenol (α-ZOL) and beta-zearalenol (β-ZOL) were detected in sorghum. Results obtained showed that mycotoxin concentrations significantly (p ≤ 0.05) reduced after fermentation. In particular, L. fermentum FUA 3321 showed the capability to significantly (p ≤ 0.05) reduce all the mycotoxins by 98% for FB₁, 84% for T-2 and up to 82% for α-ZOL, compared to raw low tannin sorghum. Fermenting with the L. fermentum strains showed potential to effectively reduce mycotoxin contamination in whole grain ting. Thus, we recommended L. fermentum FUA 3321 in particular to be used as a potential starter culture in sorghum fermentation.

Keywords: Lactobacillus fermentum; fermentation; food safety; mycotoxins; sorghum; ting.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Reduction of mycotoxin levels in ting from whole grain sorghum. (a) Ting samples obtained from the LT-sorghum type; (b) Ting samples obtained from the HT-sorghum type. 2872—naturally fermented ting from HT-sorghum; 3424—naturally fermented ting from LT-sorghum type; (3165)—fermentation with L. fermentum FUA 3165; (3321)—fermentation with L. fermentum FUA 3321; (3165 + 3321)—fermentation with L. fermentum FUA 3165 and L. fermentum FUA 3321.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Udomkun P., Wiredu A.N., Nagle M., Bandyopadhyay R., Müller J., Vanlauwe B. Mycotoxins in sub-Saharan Africa: Present situation, socio-economic impact, awareness, and outlook. Food Cont. 2017;72:110–122. doi: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2016.07.039. - DOI
    1. IARC . Improving Public Health through Mycotoxin Control. In: Pitt J.I., Wild C.P., Baan R.A., Gelderblom W.C.A., Miller J.D., Riley R.T., Wu F., editors. IARC Scientific Publication No. 158. International Agency for Research on Cancer; Lyon, France: 2012.
    1. Misihairabgwi J.M., Ezekiel C.N., Sulyok M., Shephard G.S., Krska R. Mycotoxin contamination of foods in Southern Africa: A 10-year review (2007–2016) Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 2019;59:43–58. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2017.1357003. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gbashi S., Madala N.E., De Saeger S., De Boevre M., Adekoya I., Adebo O.A., Njobeh P.B. The socio-economic impact of mycotoxin contamination in Africa. In: Njobeh P.B., Stepman F., editors. Fungi and Mycotoxins—Their Occurrence, Impact on Health and the Economy as well as Pre- and Postharvest Management Strategies. InTech; Rijeka, Croatia: 2019.
    1. Marasas W.F.O. Discovery and occurrence of the fumonisins: A historical perspective. Environ. Health Perspect. 2001;109:239–243. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources