Abstract Consumption of tea and medicinal plant infusions in general has been increasing. The worldwide growing consumption rate of tea and infusions is associated to the health promoting properties and a healthy lifestyle trend, and also to the assumption of minimal or no toxic side effects when consumed in large quantities compared with synthetic drugs. However, tea and the herbs used in the preparation of infusions can be contaminated with mycotoxins, for which no maximum levels are currently established. In this context this study aimed to analyze commercially available teas and medicinal plants destined to be consumed as infusions and assess the resulting exposure to the mycotoxins AFs and ZEA. With such purpose, 37 (convenience) samples of tea and medicinal plants destined to be consumed as infusions were analyzed through a SPE-ELISA analytical set-up. Nearly 84% of the analyzed samples were positive for at least one of the mycotoxins and 43.24% were positive for both AFs and ZEA. None of the samples negative for both AFs and ZEA were tea (i.e. derived from Camellia sinensis). Approximately 65% of the analyzed samples were positive for AF (14.74 ± 7.18 μg/kg). In general, teas featured the highest AFs contamination levels versus medicinal plants. Is it also noteworthy that all analyzed tea samples were AF-positive. Sixty two percent of the samples were contaminated with a ZEA (8.87 ± 5.31 μg/kg). Statistically significantly higher levels of ZEA in organically produced samples were observed. Samples sold in bulk (i.e. not packed) were those with the highest ZEA levels. The highest maximum levels of AFs and ZEA were detected in chamomile flowers (28.15 μg/kg), the second most consumed medicinal plant in Portugal. The degree of exposure of the Portuguese to these mycotoxins through consumption of tea and medicinal plants destined to prepare infusions, was assessed through the Estimated Daily Intake (EDI). For AFs the EDI was 0.13 ng/kg bw/day, which represents 64.12% of the proposed TDI. In the risk assessment, the worst scenario corresponded to conventional produced medicinal plants (122.45%). Conversely, tea and medicinal plants contribute little to the exposure of the Portuguese population to ZEA (EDI = 0.08 ng/kg bw/day). The obtained results proved the need for further studies to evaluate the occurrence of these mycotoxins in these food commodities of increasing consumption, in order to monitor the exposure of the population and, if justified, to serve as the basis for establishing maximum limits for the control of exposure.

中文翻译：

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用于在葡萄牙制备输液的茶和药用植物中的霉菌毒素

摘要 茶和药用植物浸剂的消费量总体上一直在增加。世界范围内不断增长的茶和输液消费率与促进健康的特性和健康的生活方式趋势有关，也与与合成药物相比，大量食用时毒性副作用最小或无毒副作用的假设有关。然而，用于制备输液的茶和草药可能会受到霉菌毒素的污染，目前还没有确定最高水平。在此背景下，本研究旨在分析用于冲泡的市售茶和药用植物，并评估由此产生的真菌毒素 AF 和 ZEA 暴露。带着这样的目的，通过 SPE-ELISA 分析装置分析了 37 个（方便的）茶叶和药用植物样品，这些样品将作为输液食用。近 84% 的分析样本中至少一种真菌毒素呈阳性，43.24% 的 AF 和 ZEA 呈阳性。AFs 和ZEA 均为阴性的样品都不是茶（即来自山茶花）。大约 65% 的分析样本对 AF 呈阳性（14.74 ± 7.18 μg/kg）。一般来说，与药用植物相比，茶的 AFs 污染水平最高。还值得注意的是，所有分析的茶样品均为 AF 阳性。62% 的样品被 ZEA (8.87 ± 5.31 μg/kg) 污染。在有机生产的样品中观察到统计学上显着更高水平的 ZEA。批量出售的样品（即 未包装）是那些 ZEA 含量最高的。在洋甘菊花中检测到最高水平的 AFs 和 ZEA（28.15 μg/kg），这是葡萄牙消费量第二大的药用植物。通过估计每日摄入量 (EDI) 评估葡萄牙人通过食用用于制备输液的茶和药用植物而暴露于这些真菌毒素的程度。对于 AFs，EDI 为 0.13 ng/kg bw/day，占拟议 TDI 的 64.12%。在风险评估中，最坏的情况对应于常规生产的药用植物（122.45%）。相反，茶和药用植物对葡萄牙人口暴露于 ZEA 的影响很小（EDI = 0.08 ng/kg bw/day）。