What Is Mycotoxin Testing And Why Does It Matter for Your Operation?

What Should Grain, Feed, and Ethanol Operations Know About Mycotoxin Testing?

When mycotoxins appear, the questions can pile up fast. How much is there? Is the product still usable? Where can it be sold? And what happens next?

Reliable testing takes the guesswork out of those decisions. Understanding when to test and what the results mean can help grain, feed, and ethanol operations catch potential issues before they become bigger problems.

What are mycotoxins, exactly?

Mycotoxins are toxins produced by certain fungi and molds during growth. They are often found in crops like corn and wheat and once they’re present, they tend to stick around as that grain is processed. Environmental conditions are one of the biggest contributors to mycotoxin contamination. For example, moisture during storage gives mold room to grow. A wet growing season followed by a dry spell or stressful events like hail may also leave crops more vulnerable to fungal infection.

DON, fumonisin, and aflatoxin are three mycotoxins Foundation Analytical Laboratory’s clients commonly monitor. The scrutiny paid to individual mycotoxin concentrations depends heavily on the intended use and destination of the product. A level that has minimal impact for one livestock species may lead to severe illness or death in another, so knowledge of the product being tested matters just as much as the toxin itself. Proper testing isn’t just a yes-or-no exercise. Operators need to know which toxins are present, and at what concentration.

Why does mycotoxin testing matter?

For ethanol producers, mycotoxin levels can make or break the value of their coproducts. Take dried distillers grains (DDGs), the solid material left over from ethanol production that’s commonly sold as feed. As corn moves through the process, mycotoxins tend to concentrate. It’s common to see levels roughly triple from the original corn to the finished DDGs.

That becomes a problem when the production process itself may push mycotoxins over the action level. Besides regulatory limits, thresholds also vary depending on the market and end use. If toxin levels exceed a buyer’s limit, the shipment could be rejected or sold at a heavily discounted price.

Testing gives producers the data they need to make critical decisions. One of the most common starting places is to test incoming feedstock, especially when feedstocks come from a region that had a rough growing season. Many ethanol plants run rapid tests as corn comes in the door, but require full lab analysis when the samples are questionable.

How do rapid tests compare to laboratory testing?

Rapid test kits earn their keep by being fast. That’s the whole pitch, and it’s a fair one: they offer a quick way to screen incoming material for potential issues. That makes them useful for flagging a potential issue that deserves a closer look, but the tradeoff is precision. They can produce false positives, have limited measurement ranges, and often can’t give the level of accuracy a high-stakes decision demands.

FAL uses liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for its mycotoxin analysis. Samples are extracted through immunoaffinity cartridges packed with specially designed antibodies to selectively hold on to mycotoxins, letting everything else pass through so the toxins can be isolated and measured with a high degree of certainty.

Producers who need to know exactly how much of a particular mycotoxin they’re dealing with generally end up here. That method’s sensitivity and precision is why LC-MS/MS is considered the gold standard of mycotoxin testing. Screening flags a potential problem, but lab analysis reliably confirms if there is an issue.

Why does representative sampling matter?

Even the best analytical method in the world only works if the sample given actually represents the load. Mycotoxins aren’t spread evenly through grain or feed. A handful of contaminated kernels can create a hot spot buried in an otherwise clean sample. If those kernels make up a disproportionate share of what gets tested, the result can be misleading.

Homogenization is how labs work around that. Mixing a sample thoroughly before pulling the portion for analysis produces a result that reflects the whole lot, not just whatever kernels happened to end up on top. That means accurate testing starts before the sample ever reaches the lab. If the sample doesn’t represent the load, even the best analytical methods are not reliable.

What should you look for in a mycotoxin testing lab?

Price and turnaround time are natural considerations when a shipment or production decision hangs in the balance. However, there’s more to consider when choosing a lab. Look at the methods it uses and the quality control behind them. Most of all, you need to know you can count on reliable, repeatable results. ISO accreditation is another important criterion when choosing a lab for mycotoxin testing. It means the lab follows defined procedures and quality-control practices to show its methods perform as intended. FAL is ISO accredited for mycotoxin testing.

Customer service tends to matter more than people expect because mycotoxins have a habit of turning routine days into urgent ones. A delayed shipment or a shaky result can throw off an entire operation, so FAL works diligently to get accurate results back to producers as fast as the process allows. Some of that process simply takes time, though. To get the highest quality data, a rigorous sample prep procedure happens before analysis even starts. And a full mycotoxin panel requires a minimum of 15 minutes of instrument time per sample, not including calibration and quality control standards.

Get the data you need to make your next call

Mycotoxin risk is an ever evolving issue. Rapid testing gives operators the information they need to spot potential issues, but lab testing gives confidence to make decisions before a product moves downstream.

Have questions about mycotoxin testing, or ready to submit a sample? Contact Foundation Analytical Laboratory to talk through your testing needs.

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