Mycotoxins characteristics

COMPARABLE CHARACTERISTIC OF ESTIMATING MYCOTOXIN CONTENT USING HPLC AND CHROMATODENSITOMETRY METHODS... 

The working group CEN TC 275/WG 5 searched for performance criteria to be used in mycotoxin analysis and came up with a document reporting the criteria for the selection of methods (26). The criteria deal with limits of detection, minimum performance characteristics, extraction solvents, and applicability. Criteria for analytical methods in mycotoxin analysis are also included in Directive 98/53/EC (18). 

Determination. The last step in mycotoxin analysis includes an additional separation achieved by HPLC column, followed by detection and quantitative determination, performed on the basis of the physicochemical characteristics of the mycotoxin. 

Owing to the varied structures of various food dyes, they can often be differentiated from one another by their characteristic ultraviolet/visible absorbance spectra. Using HPLC coupled with a diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) it is possible to collect a compound s absorbance spectrum as it elutes from the HPLC column, which greatly assists in identification. At Reading Scientific Services Ltd (RSSL) this type of detector is routinely used in a range of analyses of such substances as patulin, a mycotoxin found in apple juice, and in the analysis of colours and vitamins, which allows a more certain assignment of a particular peak to a specific compound to be made. 

Immunotechniques have recently been developed to detect food contaminants, e.g., toxins, growth hormone, antibiotics, pesticides, and herbicides. Penicillin (62) in milk, aflatoxins and mycotoxins (63, 64, 65) in milk, cheeses, yogurt, corn have been detected by immunosensors. Characteristics of protein and receptors in or on the cell surface were used in detecting pathogens such as Listeria and Salmonella by immunosensors (11, 66). The principle of immunosensors has also been applied in pesticide determinations (67, 68). 

Although MIPs can overcome these problems, no appropriate MIPs had been developed before, due to the high cost and the toxicity of these mycotoxins. The authors succeeded in synthesizing a good ZON mimicking template and made with it an MIP of suitable binding characteristics. This MIP has been applied for the analysis of cereal and swine feed samples. 

Manolova Y, Manolov G, Parvanova L, Petkova-Bocharova T, Castegnaro M, Chernozemsky IN. Induction of characteristic chromosomal aberrations, particularly X-trisomy, in cultured human lymphocytes treated by ochratoxin A, a mycotoxin implicated in Balkan endemic nephropathy. Mutat. Res. 1990 231 (2) 143-9. 

The above steps in secondary metabolism have been known since the mid-1940 s. It has also been known for a long time that certain fungal secondary metabolites end up in crop residues (e.g. Fusarium mycotoxins) although it has been difficult to correlate data from stirred jar fermentors studies with that from crop studies e.g. corn ears. Recently, however. Hale and Eaton (19) demonstrated that the characteristic cavities of wood soft rot fungi (mostly molds) are explained by the fact that filamentous fungi do not grow in a continuous fashion in solid substrates. 

New bom animals are highly sensitive to the trichothecene mycotoxins. Diarrhea is one of characteristic responses of animals administered a sublethal dose of trichothecene my cotoxin, as well as loss of tension in skeletal muscle. Vomiting is often induced shortly after the administration of trichothecene mycotoxins and this vomiting occurs frequently with intervals. Trichothecene mycotoxins cause cellular damages to actively dividing cells, impairment of immunoresponses and inhibition of macromolecule syntheses. Also, toxicity of trichothecene mycotoxin to different animal species was demonstrated. 

In the absence of a biological detector or a particular characteristic of the aerosol (such as color or odor), diagnosis of an attack with trichothecene would depend on clinical observations of casualties and identification of the toxins in biological or environmental samples. This would involve a combined effort between the medical and chemical units in the field. The early signs and symptoms of an aerosol exposure to trichothecene mycotoxins would depend on particle size and toxin concentration. For a large-particle aerosol (particles > 10 pm, found in mist, fog, and dust similar to that used in Southeast Asia), the signs and symptoms would include rhinorrhea, sore throat, blurred vi-... 

B. 1 Chemical characteristics. These mycotoxins are characterized by an indole moiety that is part of a complex ring structure that includes lysergic acid. 

Characteristics and Toxicological Effects of the Main Mycotoxins That Occur in Cereal Grains and Their Products... 

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