Fumonisin B₁, fumonisin B₂, zearalenone and ochratoxin A contamination of maize in Croatia

Abstract

Mycotoxins are products of moulds that frequently contaminate maize. In this study the presence of mycotoxins fumonisin B₁ (FB₁), fumonisin B₂ (FB₂), zearalenone (ZEA) and ochratoxin A (OTA) was determined in 49 maize grain samples collected in autumn 2002. The most frequent finding was that of FB₁(100%), followed by ZEA (84%) and OTA (39%), while FB₂ was found only in three samples. The co-occurrence of two and three mycotoxins was found in 55 and 37% of samples, respectively. The concentrations (mean ± SD) of FB₁, ZEA and OTA in positive samples were 459.8 ± 310.7, 3.84 ± 6.68 and 1.47 ± 0.38 µg kg⁻¹, respectively, and the concentrations of FB₂ in three positive samples were 68.4, 109.2 and 3084.0 µg kg⁻¹. Although such low concentrations of mycotoxins are not a significant source of exposure in countries with a European diet, a few samples with extreme values indicate that thorough control is needed.

Keywords:

• Fumonisin B1
• fumonisin B2
• HPLC
• maize
• mycotoxins
• ochratoxin A
• zearalenone

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Mrs Mirjana Matašin for technical assistance. We are grateful for the financial support of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia, grants No. 0022018 and 0178024.