Presence of zearalenone in the most commonly grown wheat cultivars in Serbia

A total of 45 samples of wheat from three different locations in Vojvodina were analyzed for the presence of zearalenone. Analytical methods based on clean-up by solid-phase extraction (SPE) columns and detection by liquid chromatography were used after validation. Limit of detection for ZEA in wheat was 18.6 ?g/kg and the limit of quantification was 56.5 ?g/kg. Recovery values ranged between 86% and 97%. The occurrence of ZEA in wheat was rather high with 53.3% of positive samples with the average value of 330 ?g/kg. Incidences were found from 68 ?g/kg to 1079 ?g/kg. Contamination levels were above the established maximum limit for unprocessed cereals, other than maize, in as many as seventeen samples. These results were compared to the results of investigation of deoxynivalenol and fumonisin content, established in our previous work on the same samples. The results obtained were also compared to those of the neighboring countries where the relevant data existed and to the data of previous studies in our country.