Emerging mycotoxin occurrence in chicken feed and eggs from Algeria

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Agricultural Science

Background:

• Poultry farming is vital in Algeria, with feed potentially contaminated by mycotoxins.
• Mycotoxins pose risks to poultry health and egg production quality.
• Emerging mycotoxins, enniatins (ENNs) and beauvericin (BEA), are of growing concern.

Purpose of the Study:

• To detect and quantify emerging mycotoxins (ENNs and BEA) in Algerian poultry feed and eggs.
• To develop and validate a reliable analytical method for mycotoxin determination.
• To assess the risk of mycotoxin contamination in the local poultry industry.

Main Methods:

• Utilized two QuEChERS-based extraction techniques for feed and egg matrices.
• Employed ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS).
• Validated the method for linearity, recovery, matrix effect, precision, and limits of quantitation.

Main Results:

• Enniatin B1 was prevalent in 9 out of 10 feed samples (3.6–41.5 µg/kg).
• Beauvericin was detected in one feed sample at 12 µg/kg.
• No enniatins or beauvericin were detected in any egg samples above the method's limit of quantitation.

Conclusions:

• Emerging mycotoxins are present in Algerian poultry feed but appear to be absent in eggs.
• The absence of mycotoxins in eggs may be attributed to the use of mycotoxin binders.
• Further research and regulatory measures are recommended to manage emerging mycotoxin risks.