Aspects Relating to Mycotoxin Contamination of Barley - Raw Material în Beer Industry

Abstract. The last years the beer industry has known, comparing with other food industry domains, a significant reshapes process, technological improvements and economic growth. Mycotoxins can be found in beer by cereals contaminated, used as raw materials. The researchers have identified 300-400 mycotoxins, but only few of them present a real danger for people’s health. An inappropriate keeping of raw materials in the silos may lead to contamination with moulds like Fusarium, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Nigospora, that produce mycotoxins: aphlatoxins B1, B2, G1, G2, M1, M2; ochratoxins, deoxynivalenol or vomitoxin.The theme approached is included in the effort our country should make to monitories the manufacturing and flow of each food. In conclusion, Romanian beer should be a European level product from security quality, presentation and marketing points of view.

Keywords: mycotoxins, raw materials, security quality

1. Introduction

The manufacturing and merchandizing of quality food products, safe for the consumer’s health, is the main objective of every manufacturer in the food industry. In the last years the beer industry, unlike other sectors of food industry has known a significant reshape process, technological improvements and economic growth. Presently over 100 beer brands are being produced in Romania, with an estimated sale volume of 3 million hl of beer according to the Romanian Association Beer Industry. Generally, beer as a finished product is a stabile product because of its low pH, the presence of hop constituents, low oxygen and nutrients level, alcohol content.

But, for beer to become a safe food for consumers the integrity of the whole integrity of the whole food chain flux must be assured, by implementing a Food Safety Management System. This system must compulsory includes a HACCP manual, guide of good work and hygiene practices.

It is known that the HACCP system ( Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point), GHP (Good Hygiene Practices) and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) permits identifying risks, establishing monitorizing procedures and corrective actions for preventing eliminating or reducing them at an acceptable level.

The good work practices guides are useful instruments of high importance for food industry specialists’, which that helps them, obtain quality products by respecting hygiene rules throughout food chain stages.

In order to prevent contamination risks they all must be known by manufacturers. Risk is defined by the NACMF (National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria of Foods) as being any element of a biological, physical or chemical nature that is a threat to consumer’s health [7]. For example, beer can be contaminated by asbestos, biogenic amines, heavy matals (arsenic, lead, iron, cadmium etc.), nitrate, nitrite, nitrosamines, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, mycotoxins.

The Mycotoxicology, a very actual problem, transform day by day in a very acute problem, the illnesses caused by mycotoxin being the mains explications for animal mortality, at intensive and centralised breeding systems as well as at private farms. This explains the importance of developing a rigorous study, chemical and in the same time biological for determining the patogenity of these. The mycotoxins produce very important economic losses as well as direct action and by associate action and also by qualitative depreciation through residual components.

Three principal directions developed the fundamental researches on mycotoxicology: mycology, mycotoxicology itself and toxicological evaluation through laboratory animals and in production [1,3]

As we say, the feedstuffs must be constantly and periodically verified, for detecting their mycotoxins, in the way of proper feedstuffs for the animals. The reasons for this monitorisation consist of contaminating possibilities in each production phase, starting with vegetation until processing and storage.

In the table 1 are presented the main species of microorganisms that may be found on the feedstuffs [5].

The mycotoxin from feeding stuffs or foodstuffs may cause serious intoxications, as well as in human and animal organisms. They can accumulate in the animals’ organs or tissues, creating the possibility for transmitting in the course of trophick chain. A lot of researches had demonstrated the possible risk of mycotoxin for human health, In the case of their transfer through meat, milk, and eggs. The aphlatoxin B2a, relative inoffensive in the case of oral administration is transformed in a hepatotoxin, by the microzomal enzymes action.