Occurrence of Free and Conjugated Mycotoxins in Aromatic and Medicinal Plants and Dietary Exposure Assessment in the Moroccan Population

Aromatic and medicinal plants (AMPs), as herbal material, are subjected to contamination by various mycotoxin-producing fungi, either free and conjugated. Such a problem is associated with poor storage practices, and lack of adopting good agricultural practices and good harvesting practices. Nevertheless, AMPs are poorly investigated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the co-occurrence of 15 mycotoxins (four aflatoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, and AFG2), ochratoxin A (OTA), beauvericin (BEA), four enniatins (ENA, ENA1, ENB, and ENB1), zearalenone (ZEN), alternariol (AOH), tentoxin (TENT), T-2, and HT-2 toxins) in 40 samples of AMPs frequently consumed in Morocco by using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Evaluation of conjugated mycotoxins and their identification using liquid chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry with ion mass exact was also carried out. Results showed that 90% of the analyzed samples presented at least one mycotoxin, and 52% presented co-occurrence of them. Mycotoxins detected were: AOH (85%), ZEN (27.5%), β-ZEL (22%), AFG1 (17.5%), TENT (17.5%), ENB (10%), AFG2 (7.5%), α-ZEL (5%), ENA1 (2.5%), and HT-2 (2.5%), while the conjugated mycotoxins were ZEN-14-Glc (11%) and ZEN-14-Sulf (9%). The highest observed level was for AOH, with 309 ng/g. Ten samples exceeded the recommended levels set by the European Pharmacopoeia for AF mycotoxins in plant material (4 ng/g), and three samples exceeded the maximum limits for AFs (10 ng/g) in species established by the European Commission. Although the co-occurrence of several mycotoxins in AMP samples was observed, the dietary exposure assessment showed that the intake of mycotoxins through the consumption of AMP beverages does not represent a risk for the population.