Co-occurrence of mycotoxins in stored maize from southern and southwestern Ethiopia

Maize grain samples collected from 129 small-scale farmers’ stores in southern and southwestern Ethiopia were analysed by LC-MS/MS for a total of 218 mycotoxins and other fungal metabolites of which 15% were regulated mycotoxins. Mycotoxins produced by Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Fusarium accounted for 31%, 17%, and 12% of the metabolites, respectively. Most of the current samples were contaminated by masked and/or emerging mycotoxins with moniliformin being the most prevalent one, contaminating 93% of the samples. Each sample was co-contaminated by 3 to 114 mycotoxins/fungal metabolites. Zearalenone, fumonisin B1, and deoxynivalenol were the dominant mycotoxins, occurring in 78%, 61%, and 55% of the samples with mean concentrations of 243, 429, and 530 µg/kg, respectively. The widespread co-occurrence of several mycotoxins in the samples may pose serious health risks due to synergistic/additional effects.