Occurrence of ergot alkaloids and deoxynivalenol in Brazilian wheat and cattle feed determined by UHPLC-MS/MS

This study presents a novel and comprehensive assessment of the presence of ergot alkaloids (EAs, ergocristine, ergocornine, α-ergocryptine, ergotaminine, and ergosine) and deoxynivalenol (DON), individually and in combination, in wheat and cattle feed in Brazil. A total of 92 wheat grain and 79 cattle feed samples from different feed and food Brazilian industries were analyzed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) between January 2023 and March 2025. Approximately 78% of wheat samples and 72% of cattle feed samples contained at least one EA. Ergosine was the predominant alkaloid in wheat, with a mean concentration of 8.06 µg/kg. In contrast, ergotaminine was the primary contaminant in cattle feed, with a mean concentration of 2.37 µg/kg. DON also showed high contamination levels, with mean concentrations of 1,913 µg/kg in wheat and 222.14 µg/kg in cattle feed. All five EAs were simultaneously detected in 8/92 wheat samples, whereas no simultaneous occurrence of all five EAs was observed in cattle feed samples. The co-occurrence of DON and different EAs ranged from 14.1 to 65.2% in wheat and from 6.3 to 40.5% in cattle feed. These findings highlight the importance of mycotoxin monitoring in Brazil and demonstrate the robustness of UHPLC-MS/MS as a tool for detecting these mycotoxins in complex matrices such as animal feed.