Mycotoxin and cyanogenic glycoside assessment of the traditional leafy vegetables and from Namibia.

Sixty traditional leafy vegetables, comprising of ( = 20) and () ( = 40) were analysed for fungal, plant and bacterial metabolites using liquid-chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. No European Union legislated mycotoxins were quantified and no vegetables contained levels above the FAO/WHO limit of 10 mg/kg for cyanogenic potential, suggesting comparative safety regarding regulated mycotoxins and cyanogenic glycosides. Quantified fungal metabolites included averufin and 3-Nitropropionic acid from , beauvericin and equisetin from , citrinin and curvularin from and altertoxin -1 and tentoxin from . Of the plant cyanogenic glycosides, linamarin was quantifiable in 65% of at a maximum of 398 µg/kg but not in , while lotaustralin was quantifiable in both and . The bacterial metabolite nonactin was detected in 27.5% of samples (range: 0.2-7.3 μg/kg). Minimal variation in metabolite patterns was recorded for samples from Oshana and Oshikoto regions.