Members of the Applied Mycology research group at FABI comprising MSc students Shivan Bezuidenhout and Alice Mthembu, and postdoctoral Fellow Dr Neriman Yilmaz embarked on a day trip to the Southern African Grain Laboratory (SAGL) in Pretoria on Thursday 20 May. This forms part of a collaboration between FABI and SAGL with several student visits planned in the coming months.

Their research aims to obtain a better understanding of the fungal communities that produce mycotoxins in crops, food and animal feed. They also aim to develop unified rapid monitoring methods to identify important mycotoxigenic species along the value chain. The team collaborates with SAGL who provides accredited mycotoxin analysis and quality testing. The purpose of the trip was to expose students to the agricultural industry and learn how mycotoxin analysis is performed step-by-step using LC-MS/MS.

The group wishes to thank SAGL for the opportunity to visit  them and the hospitality received, and a special thanks to Hannalien Meyer and Zanele Skhosana who guided us through the laboratory. The work from both groups and their collaboration contributes to secure food and feed for future generations.