Plant ingredients and processed animal proteins (PAP) are suitable alternative feedstuffs for fish feeds in aquaculture practice, although their use can introduce contaminants that are not previously associated with marine salmon and gilthead sea bream farming. Mycotoxins are well known natural contaminants in plant feed material, although they also could be present on PAPs after fungi growth during storage. The present study surveyed commercially available plant ingredients (19) and PAP (19) for a wide range of mycotoxins (18) according to the EU regulations. PAP showed only minor levels of ochratoxin A and fumonisin B1 and the mycotoxin carry-over from feeds to fillets of farmed Atlantic salmon and gilthead sea bream (two main species of European aquaculture) was performed with plant ingredient based diets. Deoxynivalenol was the most prevalent mycotoxin in wheat, wheat gluten and corn gluten cereals with levels ranging from 17 to 814 and μg kg(-1), followed by fumonisins in corn products (range 11.1-4901 μg kg(-1) for fumonisin B1+B2+B3). Overall mycotoxin levels in fish feeds reflected the feed ingredient composition and the level of contaminant in each feed ingredient. In all cases the studied ingredients and feeds showed levels of mycotoxins below maximum residue limits established by the Commission Recommendation 2006/576/EC. Following these guidelines no mycotoxin carry-over was found from feeds to edible fillets of salmonids and a typically marine fish, such as gilthead sea bream. As far we know, this is the first report of mycotoxin surveillance in farmed fish species.

The use of plant-based lubricants is a sustainable alternative to petrochemical lubricants. Their main advantages include proven tribological performance, higher biodegradability in the environment, and the absence of health hazards when inhaled, ingested, or in contact with the skin. In this study, nine best-selling commercial lubricants were purchased and compared with two proposed sustainable alternatives derived from plant-based resources. The alternative wet lubricant that was developed demonstrated superior tribological performance compared to the selected commercial lubricants. Meanwhile, the alternative dry lubricant exhibited a greater load capacity and high wear resistance in the presence of micrometric Al₂O₃ particles at 20 N. The results indicated that a proper formulation of plant-based resources in lubricants can achieve the same or even better functional performance than conventional lubricants, which are currently classified as hazardous under European regulations.