Prevalence and concentration of mycotoxins in bovine feed and feed components: A global systematic review and meta-analysis

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by fungi and identified as contaminants in animal feed. They have potentially harmful effects, including carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and repro-toxicity in animals and humans. As a result of climate change, there is the potential for a change in the prevalence and concentration of mycotoxins in animal feed components. This necessitates an assessment of the present and emerging threats to the food supply chain from mycotoxins. This systematic review and meta-analysis study synthesised studies on mycotoxin contamination and prevalence in cattle feed components. The studies were collected from scientific databases Web of Knowledge, Scopus, and Embase between 2011 and 2022. The meta-analysis synthesised 97 studies on the prevalence and the concentration of aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, fumonisin and T-2/HT-2 toxins in feed components. Aflatoxin was highly prevalent (59 %), with a concentration of 2.58–3.92 μg kg−1 in feed components. Ochratoxin A had a global prevalence of 31 % with a concentration of 5.56–12.41 μg kg−1. Deoxynivalenol had a global concentration of 233.17–327.73 μg kg−1 and a prevalence of 74 %. Zearalenone had a prevalence of 70 % and a concentration of 42.47–66.19 μg kg−1. The concentration and prevalence of fumonisins was 232.19–393.07 μg kg−1 and 65 %, respectively. The prevalence and concentration of T-2/HT-2 toxins were 45 % and 23.54–35.12 μg kg−1, respectively. The synthesised concentration of the mycotoxins in the overall feed components was lower than the regulated and guidance values set by the European Union. However, in a few cases, the 95th percentile exceeded these concentration values due to high levels of uncertainty attributed to lower sample size, and thus, need to be considered while conducting risk assessments. The study highlights climates and regions likely to be conducive to the emergence of mycotoxin risk, especially considering the potential influences of climate change.