Drinking Green Tea: Despite the Risks Due to Mycotoxins, Is It Possible to Increase the Associated Health Benefits?

Superfood consumers' exposure to selected heavy metals

Background: Superfood products are important components of the human diet, which may contain toxic heavy metals that have no beneficial function in the human body (e.g., cadmium, arsenic, mercury). Therefore, due to the high demand for these foods, maintaining their safety is a significant public health concern, resulting in an increasing number of studies in the field of health risk assessment due to population exposure to heavy metals. Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the concentration of selected heavy metals in individual superfood products. Methods: The research material consisted of 48 samples of selected superfood products such as flaxseed, chia seed, black cumin, goji berries, buckwheat, millet, almonds, quinoa and green tea. The collected samples were subjected to the mineralization process. In addition, an exposure assessment was performed by calculating the hazard quotient (HQ). Statistical analysis was performed using Statistica software for cadmium and arsenic. Results: The highest level of cadmium was observed in a sample of flaxseed (ground)-0.35 mg/kg. Again, the highest concentration of arsenic was found in green tea bags (21.94 mg/kg). The exposure assessment showed that the risk of adverse health effects is likely to occur with the consumption of flaxseed, almonds, quinoa and green tea at both the assumed average and maximum arsenic concentrations (HQ > 1). Conclusions: There are many foods on the market that contain heavy metals. The accumulation of various heavy metals in agricultural soils and edible crops should be regularly assessed to minimize public health problems.

Microbial contamination in grocery stores from Portugal and Spain - The neglected indoor environment to be tackled in the scope of the One Health approach

Microbial contamination in grocery shops (GS) should be evaluated since food commodities are commonly handled by workers and customers increasing the risk of food contamination and disease transmission. The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbial contamination in Portuguese and Spanish GS with a multi-approach protocol using passive (electrostatic dust cloths and surface swabs) sampling methods. The molecular detection of Aspergillus sections, mycotoxin analysis, screening of azole resistance as well as cytotoxicity measurement were conducted to better estimate the potential health risks of exposure and to identify possible relations between the risk factors studied. Fruits/vegetables sampling location was the one identified has being the most contaminated (bacteria and fungi) area in GS from both countries. Aspergillus section Fumigati and Fusarium species were observed in samples from Portuguese groceries with reduced susceptibilities to azoles commonly used in the clinical treatment of fungal infections. Fumonisin B2 was detected in Portuguese GS possible unveiling this emergent threat concerning occupational exposure and food safety. Overall, the results obtained raise concerns regarding human health and food safety and must be surveilled applying a One Health approach.

The Presence of Molds and Their Secondary Metabolites in Purple Coneflower-Based Dietary Supplements (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench)

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench) is a plant in the family Asteraceae, mainly grown in North America. Echinacea purpurea has been used in conventional medicine. The plant has immuno-stimulating and antibacterial properties, but neither mold contamination nor a mycotoxin presence have been evaluated. Our goal is to determine the degree to which molds and mycotoxins contaminate dietary supplements based on purple coneflower distributed on the Polish market. We analyzed 21 samples divided into four groups: sachets (n = 5), dry raw material (n = 3), capsules (n = 9), and tablets (n = 4). The mycological analysis of dietary supplements shows that the average number of molds is 1012 cfu/g, and the most common molds are Aspergillus spp., Phoma spp. and Eurotium spp. The mycotoxins most common in the samples are ZEN (18/21), DON (5/21) and T-2 toxin (3/21).

In-silico study of reducing human health risk of POP residues' direct (from tea) or indirect exposure (from tea garden soil): Improved rhizosphere microbial degradation, toxicity control, and mechanism analysis

The accumulation of potentially harmful substances in tea garden soils and tea leaves, especially persistent organic pollutants (POPs), is a special concern for tea consumers worldwide. However, their potential health and ecological risks in tea gardens have rarely been investigated. This study proposed measures to improve the degradation ability of POPs by the tea rhizosphere and to reduce the human health risks caused by POPs after tea consumption. In this study, the binding energy values of six types of POPs and the degraded protein were used to reflect the degradation ability and calculated using molecular dynamic simulations. The main root secretions (i.e., catechin, glucose, arginine, and oxalic acid) were selected and applied with a combination of tea fertilizer and trace element combination (i.e., urea, straw, and copper element), leading to an improved degradation ability (49.59 %) of POPs. To investigate the mechanisms of the factors that affect the degradation ability, molecular docking, tensor singular value decomposition methods, multivariate correlation analysis and 2D-QSAR model were used. The results showed that the solvation energy and solvent accessible surface area are the main forces, and the molecular weight, boiling point, and topological radius of the POPs were the key molecular features affecting their degradation ability. Based on the three key characteristics, a diet avoidance scheme (i.e., avoiding lysine, maslinic acid, ethanol, perfluorocaproic acid, and cholesterol with tea), which can reduce the binding ability of POP residues to aromatic hydrocarbon receptors by 506.13 %. This work will provide theoretical strategies to improve the quality and safety of tea production and reduce the potential risks of harmful substance residues in tea garden soils and tea leaves.

Mycotoxins in raw materials, beverages and supplements of botanicals: A review of occurrence, risk assessment and analytical methodologies

Over recent years, consumer interest in natural products, such as botanicals has increased considerably. One of the factors affecting their quality is the presence of mycotoxins. This review focuses on exploring the mycotoxin occurrence in botanicals (raw material and ready-to-eat forms such as infusions or tablets) and the risk assessment due to their ingestion. Aflatoxins, Ochratoxin A, and Fumonisins are the most commonly studied mycotoxins and data in the literature report levels ranging from traces to 1000 μg/kg in raw materials. In general, the highest contents observed in raw materials decreased to unconcerning levels after the preparation of the infusions, reaching values that generally do not exceed 100 μg/L. Regarding botanical dietary supplements, the levels observed were lower than those reported for other matrices, although higher levels (of up to 1000 μg/kg) have been reported in some cases. Risk assessment studies in botanicals revealed a higher risk when they are consumed as tablets compared to infusions. Analytical methodologies implied in mycotoxin determination have also been contemplated. In this sense, liquid chromatography coupled to fluorescence detection has been the most frequently employed analytical technique, although in recent years tandem mass spectrometry has been widely used.

Chromatographic Determination of the Mycotoxin Patulin in 219 Chinese Tea Samples and Implications for Human Health

Patulin (PAT) is a mycotoxin, with several acute, chronic, and cellular level toxic effects, produced by various fungi. A limit for PAT in food of has been set by authorities to guarantee food safety. Research on PAT in tea has been very limited although tea is the second largest beverage in the world. In this paper, HPLC−DAD and GC−MS methods for analysis of PAT in different tea products, such as non-fermented (green tea), partially fermented (oolong tea, white tea, yellow tea), completely fermented (black tea), and post-fermented (dark tea and Pu-erh tea) teas were developed. The methods showed good selectivity with regard to tea pigments and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) and a recovery of 90–102% for PAT at a 10–100 ppb spiking level. Limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) in tea were 1.5 ng/g and 5.0 ng/g for HPLC−UV, and 0.25 ng/g and 0.83 ng/g for GC−MS. HPLC was simpler and more robust, while GC−MS showed higher sensitivity and selectivity. GC−MS was used to validate the HPLC−UV method and prove its accuracy. The PAT content of 219 Chinese tea samples was investigated. Most tea samples contained less than 10 ng/g, ten more than 10 ng/g and two more than 50 ng/g. The results imply that tea products in China are safe with regard to their PAT content. Even an extreme daily consumption of 25 g of the tea with the highest PAT content (124 ng/g), translates to an intake of only 3 μg/person/day, which is still an order of magnitude below the maximum allowed daily intake of 30 µg for an adult.