The Determination of T-2 Toxin,Diacetoxyscirpenol,and Deoxynivalenol in Foods and Feeds

Abstract

A method is presented for the analysis of mycotoxins using acetonitrile (90) water (10) extraction, petroleum ether defatting and ferric gel decolorization, chloroform partitioning, and a 1000-fold concentration. Gas chromatography and thin layer chromatography are used to separate and analyze the three most common thichothecene mycotoxins. The analysis has been applied to animal feeds, human foods, and animal tissues. Confirmation of the presence of the mycotoxins is made by IR, NMR, and/or mass spectrometric analysis and/or the chicken embryo test. The sensitivity of the method is 1 ppm for the three trichothecenes, the level of biological effectiveness. The gas chromatographic analysis technique is sensitive to 10 ng of each mycotoxin; the thin layer analysis is sensitive to 100 ng of each compound. Mass spectra may be obtained from 100 ng of each toxin taken from a thin layer chromatogram and the LD₅₀ for chicken embryos is 100 ng/egg for T-2 toxin and diacetoxyscirpenol. Vomitoxin (deoxynivalenol) has not been subjected to the chicken embryo test due to the lack of authentic pure vomitoxin.