Poroșnicu, IoanaAilincăi, Luminița-IulianaDavidescu, Mădălina-AlexandraMareș, Mihai2026-08-312026-08-312026-01-13https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/18/1/42https://repository.iuls.ro/handle/20.500.12811/6945This study was focused on the assessment of fungal occurrence, mycotoxin dynamics, aflatoxin carry-over, and associated biochemical responses in dairy cattle. Moisture emerged as the dominant factor for fungal communities, promoting the co-proliferation of fungal genera adapted to high water activity conditions (aw > 0.90) and antagonism against xerotolerant and xerophilic species. Aspergillus spp. dominated dry substrates (aw < 0.75), Fusarium spp. showed strong positive associations with high-moisture matrices (aw > 0.90), and Penicillium spp. exhibited intermediate, substrate-dependent behavior. Mycotoxin levels fluctuated non-linearly, independently of fungal counts: ochratoxin A (OTA) concentrations in corn silage increased from approximately 12 μg/kg at the onset of the ensiling period to >240 μg/kg at silo opening, indicating dynamic mycotoxin accumulation during storage, while zearalenone (ZEA) oscillated from 40 to 170 µg/kg. Despite the variation in total aflatoxins (AFLA-T) across feed matrices, aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in milk remained low (0.0020–0.0093 μg/kg), confirming limited carry-over. Serum biochemical parameters—alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total bilirubin (BIL-T), total protein (PROT-T)—remained within physiological limits, yet multivariate analyses revealed metabolic modulation linked to aflatoxin exposure. AFM1 explained >7% of the variance in serum biochemical profiles according to PERMANOVA (p = 0.002), showed significant MANOVA effect (Pillai = 0.198), and displayed a significant canonical association (p < 10−13). Linear discriminant analysis further separated Normal vs. Borderline hepatic profiles, indicating subclinical physiological adaptation to chronic low-dose exposure.enCC BY 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/mycotoxinsaflatoxin M1dairy cattlefungal ecologyfeed contaminationAspergillus spp.Fusarium spp.Article2072-6651https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins18010042