title: Occurrence of zearalenone in Korean barley and corn foods.
abstract: The presence of zearalenone (ZEN) in Korean foods such as barley, barley-based foods, corn, corn-based foods, fruits and vegetables was investigated by direct competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (dcELISA) and the liquid chromatography (LC) method. A total of 164 samples was collected from Seoul, Korea, in 1998 and 1999 including 30 barley, 32 barley-based foods, 18 corn, 47 corn-based foods, 19 dried red pepper, nine dried jujube, and nine dried persimmon. Average recoveries of ZEN from barley and corn by dcELISA were 138 and 145%, and by LC were 91 and 83% respectively at spiking levels of 5-500 ngg(-1). The detection limit for ZEN was 3 ng g(-1) by dcELISA and 4 ngg(-1) by LC. From 164 samples analysed, ZEN was found by dcELISA in 35 samples (21%) with a mean level of 30 ng g(-1). Barley-based foods had the highest incidence of ZEN (38%) followed by barley (33%), corn-based foods (26%) and corn (22%). No ZEN was detected in any red pepper, jujube or persimmon samples. A high degree of correlation (r2 = 0.86) was observed between the 35 positive samples detected by dcELISA and 31 samples by LC.
authors.affiliation: The Graduate School of Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul.
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Shon
authors.forename: Y B
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D004968:Estrogens, Non-Steroidal / Q000032:analysis*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005511:Food Handling; D001467:Hordeum / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D003313:Zea mays / Q000737:chemistry*; D015025:Zearalenone / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D004968:Estrogens, Non-Steroidal; D015025:Zearalenone