title: A survey of zearalenone in corn using Romer Mycosep 224 column and high performance liquid chromatography.
abstract: A survey of zearalenone (ZEA) in corn from various regions of Brazil was carried out by the analysis of 380 corn samples, of which 30 samples (7.8%) were found to be contaminated in the range of 46.7-719 micrograms/kg. ZEA was extracted with acetonitrile-water (84:16, v/v), cleaned-up on a Romer Mycosep 224 column, separated, detected and quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The in-house method characteristics of linearity, accuracy, precision, and detection limit were defined by means of recovery tests with spiked corn samples in the range of 35.8-716 micrograms/kg and the analysis of a naturally-contaminated sample (n = 7). The mean recovery for ZEA was 99.4% and the relative standard deviation (RSD) varied from 0.7 to 26.6% in the range studied. The method has been shown to be accurate, quick and reliable for determination of zearalenone in corn.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture and Supply, Laboratory for Mycotoxin Analysis, Av. Raja Gabaglia, 245, CEP, 30380-090, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Vargas
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis; D001938:Brazil; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D004968:Estrogens, Non-Steroidal / Q000032:analysis*; D003313:Zea mays / Q000737:chemistry*; D015025:Zearalenone / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D004968:Estrogens, Non-Steroidal; D015025:Zearalenone