Occurrence of deoxynivalenol and zearalenone in commercial fish feed: an initial study.

The control of mycotoxins is a global challenge not only in human consumption but also in nutrition of farm animals including aquatic species. Fusarium toxins, such as deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEN), are common contaminants of animal feed but no study reported the occurrence of both mycotoxins in fish feed so far. Here, we report for the first time the occurrence of DON and ZEN in samples of commercial fish feed designed for nutrition of cyprinids collected from central Europe. A maximal DON concentration of 825 μg kg(-1) feed was found in one feed whereas average values of 289 μg kg(-1) feed were noted. ZEN was the more prevalent mycotoxin but the concentrations were lower showing an average level of 67.9 μg kg(-1) feed.