Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of both Fusarium-mycotoxins and endotoxins in commercially-produced traditional Rwandan banana beer.
Methods: Two brands of commercially-produced traditional banana beer were collected from local retail market in Kigali, Rwanda. Beer samples were analyzed for the presence of deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisin B1(FB1) and zearalenone (ZEN) using an enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA) method. The quantification of bacterial endotoxin using Limulus Amoeboecyte Lysate (LAL) assay was also conducted.
Results: The contamination levels were 20 ppb and 6.7 ppb for DON; 34 ppb and 31.3 ppb for FB1; 0.66 ppb and 2.2 ppb for ZEN in Brand A and B of the beers, respectively. Results indicate that the levels of Fusarium-toxins and bacterial endotoxin reported in this study did not indicate adverse human health effects as result of drinking/consuming banana beer. However, exposure to low/sub-threshold doses or non-toxic levels of endotoxins magnifies the toxic effect of xenobiotic agents (eg., fungal toxins) on liver and other target organs.
Significance: Considering Fusarium-toxins and/or endotoxin contamination levels in other agricultural commodities intended for human consumption health risks might be high, and the condition is aggravated when beer is contaminated by mixtures of the mycotoxins as indicated in this study.