title: Mycotoxin contamination of dietary and medicinal wild plants in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.
abstract: Nineteen dietary and 30 medicinal wild plants used by residents of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa were investigated for the presence of fumonisin B1 and aflatoxin B1. The plants were extracted in water, and cleanup was undertaken on immunoaffinity cartridges; analysis was by HPLC using fluorescence detection. None of the plant extracts contained detectable levels of aflatoxin B1; however, eight plants, four dietary and four medicinal, were positive for fumonisin B1 at levels ranging from 34 to 524 microg/kg and from 8 to 1553 microg/kg, respectively. The presence of fumonisin B1 was confirmed by LC-MS/MS using positive ion electrospray ionization. Fumonisin B1 provided characteristic fragment ions at m/z 704, 686, 546, 528, 370, and 352 corresponding to sequential loss of H2O and tricarboxylic acid moieties from the alkyl backbone. These results indicate that exposure to fumonisin B1 is much more widespread than initially thought and is the first report of mycotoxin contamination in South African medicinal and dietary wild plants.
authors.affiliation: PROMEC Unit and Biostatistics Unit, Medical Research Council, P.O. Box 19070, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa. vikash.sewram@mrc.ac.za
authors.forename: Vikash
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sewram
authors.forename: Gordon S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Shephard
authors.forename: Lize
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van der Merwe
authors.forename: Thomas V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Jacobs
mesh_terms: D016604:Aflatoxin B1 / Q000032:analysis; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D037341:Fumonisins / Q000032:analysis; D009183:Mycotoxins / Q000032:analysis*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry; D010945:Plants, Edible / Q000737:chemistry*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D013019:South Africa
chemical_list: D037341:Fumonisins; D009183:Mycotoxins; D010936:Plant Extracts; C056933:fumonisin B1; D016604:Aflatoxin B1