A survey of the occurrence of the mycotoxin moniliformin in cereal samples from sources worldwide

Abstract

A method is reported for the determination of the Fusarium mycotoxin moniliformin in cereals. The samples after extraction with acetonitrile/water are cleaned-up on a combination of reverse-phase and strong-anion exchange disposable cartridge columns. The extract is then analysed by ion-pair HPLC with UV detection. The method gave recoveries from 81 to 96% and a limit of detection of 0.05 mg/kg. A UK survey of 36 samples of maize products (principally meal and flour) generally showed detectable but low levels of contamination ranging from 0.05 to 0.25 mg/kg (with the exception of three samples where moniliformin levels were less than 0.05 mg/kg). Sixty-four samples of maize from ten different countries showed generally higher levels of moniliformin contamination, with samples from Gambia and South Africa containing 3.16 and 2.73 mg/kg respectively. Field samples of maize, oats, wheat, rye and tricticale that were hand-selected as showing signs of visible fungal damage were obtained from Poland. Moniliformin was consistently present at high levels with amounts ranging from 0.5 to 38.3 mg/kg being associated with F. avenaceum contamination and amounts ranging from 4.2 to 399.3 mg/kg being associated with the presence of F. subglutinans.