A simple method for determination of zearalenone in the culture of Genus Fusarium and cereal by gas chromatography equipped with a flame ionization detector (FID-GC) was investigated.
The presented method was composed of the following steps: Sample was extracted with methanol. To the methanol extract 1% sodium chloride solution was added. The aqueous methanol was defatted with n-hexane and was reextracted with chloroform. After the chloroform extract was cleaned up by column chromatography using a silica gel and Florisil mixture, zearalenone was silylated with N, O-bis (trimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide in ethyl acetate. The TMS-derivative was determined by FID-GC with a column (3mm×1m) of 2% OV-1 on Gaschrom Q.
The recoveries of zearalenone added to cereals at level of 0.4ppm were from 71.8 to 87.6%.
By this method, zearalenone was determined in the range of 4-3051μg/g in the culture of Fusarium species and was not determined in wheat and barley of Saitama growth in 1975, although zearalenone producing strain were isolated three strains from the wheat.