MyToolBox

For a food producer, it is essential to guarantee the safety of the products their customers buy and eat on an everyday basis.

A Demo of the final version of MyToolBox e-platform mock-up has been presented during Vienna Meeting.

EVK joined the MyToolBox consortium in  August 2017, bringing vast experience in the development of real-time sorting techniques to the proje

The infection of maize with fungus Aspergillus flavus, the main producer of aflatoxin B1, and the synthesis of aforementioned mycotoxin can be controlled and reduced by applying biocontrol product based on the non-toxigenic strain of A.flavus.

New papers and posters have been published - some of the titles are: 

Posters:

Kotz et al., Enzymatic detoxification mycotoxins bioethanol process

Agrocentrum started this year's field trial by end of March 2018 with sowing maize hybrids on 3.5 ha in Serbia.

https://agrocentrum.ls.rs/rs/ 

MyToolBox dissemination activity in Brussels:

pre-harvest-WP-leader Simon Edwards, Deputy-Coordinator Monique de Nijs and Coordinator Rudi Krska proudly representing MyToolBox at the Mycotoxins Stakeholder Forum on May 14th, 2018

Shenzhen, China, 28.11.2017 MyToolBox coordinator Rudolf Krska gives a talk during the EU-China FAB-flagship initiative workshop in Shenzhen on invitation by the  European Commission in cooperation with the Ministry of Science and Technology, China operation on the subject:  Contribution of MyToolBox to the overall picture/policy of EU-China-cooperations. Read more 

Development of real-time post-harvest environmental monitoring systems for storage of cereals

Throughout the summer, Barilla constructed the experimental silos for the test-run of the real-time monitoring systems that were developed by IRIS and Cranfield University (see story). And, in August 2017, the researchers from Cranfield University went to Barilla in Parma, Italy, to install and monitor these pilot scale silos. The system is based on the real-time monitoring of CO₂, RH and temperature, which will be tested by comparing and evaluating both indoor and outdoor storage conditions, and simulating the effects of  a real harvesting campaign .  While the first tests are finished, they are continuing for the next few months..

The real-time physical measurements received from these tests will be linked to the biological models of quality loss (dry matter loss) in relation to mycotoxin contamination relevant to the EU legislative limits (e.g. ZEN, OTA in wheat; fumonisins and aflatoxins in maize; aflatoxins in peanuts), and to the scenarios growth/no growth and mycotoxin/no mycotoxin boundary conditions for better post-harvest management of these commodities.

These activities are all contributing to the objective of Work Package 2: To develop real-time environmental monitoring systems for storage of cereals and peanuts to facilitate effective integrated control of moulds, mycotoxins and pest activitiy for integration into a Decision Support System (DSS) of the web-based MyToolBox for post-harvest storage managers.

1st Mycokey-MyToolBox Conference on Mycotoxins, Ghent University, Belgium 11-14th September, 2017

The recent conference held at Ghent University provided an excellent opportunity to showcase the advances already being made by partners involved in MyToolBox. Prof. Rudi Krska presented a keynote talk highlighting the significant advances made in the different Work Packages so far even though the project has been running for only 18 months. These included the development of atoixgenic strains of A.flavus for control of aflatoxins in maize which is being patented (WP1) for application in Serbia, the developments in the real time post-harvest Decision Support System for mycotoxin management using pilot scale silos at Barilla in Parma Italy (WP2), the development of novel processing approaches to minimise mycotoxins entering the food chain (WP2), the alternative uses of contaminated batches (WP2), on-going development of the e-platform with dynamic and static information for real time use by stakeholders (WP3 and WP4) including interaction with various stake holder groups, In addition to this overall presentation of the highlights so far in the first 18 months, individual partners also presented their research advances in the more detailed scientific parallel sessions.

For example, Ms Esmee Janssen and colleagues (Wageningen University) presented the initial findings of surveys with regard to EU farmers approaches to improving mycotoxin management. Dr. Michael Sulyok (BOKU) presented his recent developments in the use of LC-MS methods for multi-mycotoxin analysisand their application for feed matrices. Dr Esther Garcia-Cela and colleagues (Cranfield University) demonstrated the potential for using CO₂ as an early indicator of post-harvest spoilage in wheat by Fusarium graminearum and the production of Zearalenone (ZEN). This demonstrated that by using the physical measurements is was possible to correlate this with relative dry matter losses and evaluate in real-time whether there is a low, medium or high risk of contamination exceeding the EU legislative limits. Dr Michele Surman (Barilla) demonstrated the potential of using different pre-milling and processing approaches for synergistic effects to minimise mycotoxins entering the food chain. The potential for use of at risk batches of mycotoxin contaminated cereals for bioethanol production by adding detoxifying enzymes was presented by Daniela Kotz and colleagues (BIOMIN) which is on-going.

A key part of the e-platform is pre-harvest modelling for assisting stakeholders to effectively use real-time dynamic data for determining risks of mycotoxin contamination and thus timing of spray applications to control Fusarium infection in cereals. Dr. Cheng Liu and Dr. Ine van der Fels-Klerx (Rikilt Wageningen Research) and Prof. Vittorio Rossi (HORTA) presented data on the development of predictive models for Fusarium infection preharvest and potential for contamination with type A trichothecenes especially Deoxynivalenol. In addition, MyToolBox partners were involved in discussions with MycoKey partners in relevant Work Packages to ensure that work being carried out was complimentary and that, where possible, collaborative initiatives could be followed up in the future.