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Title: International shipping of fumonisins from maize extracts on C18 sorbent

Author
item Riley, Ronald
item TORRES, OLGA - INCAP, GUATEMALA/CA
item PALENCIA, EDWIN - INCAP, GUATEMALA/CA

Submitted to: Journal of Food Additives & Contaminants
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/16/2006
Publication Date: 8/1/2006
Citation: Riley, R.T., Torres, O.A., Palencia, E. 2006. International shipping of fumonisins from maize extracts on C18 sorbent. Food Additives and Contaminants 23(8):826-832.

Interpretive Summary: Fumonisins are water soluble toxic chemicals produced by the fungus Fusarium verticillioides and are found in maize wherever it is grown. Fumonisin B1 is the most abundant of the naturally occurring fumonisins. Shipping of maize samples into the USA from other countries can be difficult since maize is frequently infected with pathogenic fungi and can be infested with insects. A simple, reproducible and safe method for shipping maize extracts for fumonisin analysis from Guatemala to the USA was needed in order to conduct a survey of fumonisins in Guatemalan maize. The objectives of this study were to 1) develop and validate a method for isolating and shipping maize extracts, and 2) couple the method with a reproducible and sensitive analytical method using mass spectrometry so as to allow the conduct of a survey of fumonisin contamination of maize from rural areas of Guatemala. The results indicate that fumonisins in acetonitrile:water extracts of maize can be isolated on cartridges containing an absorbent known as C18 and held for three days at 22oC and then an additional four days at 4oC before elution and analysis with no losses. This method allows for the importation and analysis of a large number of maize samples from distant foreign locations without any complications arising from international safety concerns.

Technical Abstract: Fumonisins are water soluble mycotoxins produced by the fungus Fusarium verticillioides (formerly F. moniliforme) and are found in maize wherever it is grown. Fumonisin B1 (FB1) is a diester of propane-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid and 2-amino-12, 16-dimethyl-3,5,10,14,15-pentahydroxyeicosane, and is the most abundant of the naturally occurring fumonisins. Shipping of maize samples into the USA from other countries can be difficult since maize is frequently infected with pathogenic fungi and can be infested with insects. A simple, reproducible and safe method for shipping maize extracts for fumonisin analysis by ion trap electrospray ionization mass spectrometry from Guatemala to the USA was needed in order to conduct a survey of fumonisins in Guatemalan maize. The objectives of this study were to 1) develop and validate a method for isolating and shipping maize extracts, and 2) couple the method with a reproducible and sensitive liquid chromatography ion trap mass spectrometry method so as to allow the conduct of a survey of fumonisin contamination of maize from rural areas of Guatemala. The results indicate that fumonisins in acetonitrile:water extracts of maize can be isolated on C18 cartridges, held for three days at 22oC and then an additional four days at 4oC before elution and analysis with no losses. This method allows for the importation and analysis of a large number of maize samples from distant foreign locations without any complications arising from international safety concerns.