A simple method for determination of deoxynivalenol in cereals and flours

An effective and fast method for determination of deoxynivalenol (DON) in cereals and flours has been developed. The immunoaffinity column was used for the isolation of DON from wheat, corn, rice and flour extract. The determination was carried out by using the HPLC/UV method. The limit of detection was 0.02 mg/kg. The recoveries for the assay range from 0.1 to 2 mg/kg were generally higher than 80 %, ranging from 83 to 96 % with an average relative standard deviation of 3.8 %. The trueness of the method using the DON test - HPLC column was established by use of certified reference material CRM 379. The certified value was 0.67 mg/kg. The result obtained from three replicates was 0.68+/-0.05 mg/kg. The corresponding confidence interval at 95 % probability ranged from 0.63 to 0.73 mg/kg. A comparative study of the DON test**TM - HPLC/UV and the Mycosep 225 - GC/ECD methods was carried out. Six naturally contaminated wheat samples were analysed by both methods. Linear regression analysis demonstrates that DON test**TM - HPLC is a statistically significant predictor of the GC/ECD method using the Romer Mycosep 225 column.