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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #288782
Title: Use of cyclodextrin-based polymer for patulin analysis in apple juice

Author
item SHIRASAWA, TAKASHI - Shinshu University
item UEDA, MOTOHIRO - Shinshu University
item Appell, Michael
item GOTO, TETSUHISA - Shinshu University

Submitted to: Mycotoxins
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/3/2012
Publication Date: 4/25/2013
Citation: Shirasawa, T., Ueda, M., Appell, M.D., Goto, T. 2013. Use of cyclodextrin-based polymer for patulin analysis in apple juice. Mycotoxins. 63(1):1-8.

Interpretive Summary: An improved method to detect the natural toxin patulin in apple juice was developed using a specially designed material to isolate the toxin for analysis. Patulin is an important natural toxin produced by fungi that contaminate agricultural commodities and is most frequently found in apple products. Apple juice is a popular beverage marketed for children. The common method for accurate determination of patulin in apple juice is time-consuming and labor intensive. This study reports a new detection method using a special carbohydrate material that enables rapid and accurate determination of patulin in apple juice at levels regulated by many governments. This research is important to scientists looking for robust materials to improve detection of small molecule toxins and accurate methods to detect patulin.

Technical Abstract: Penicillium expansum, one of the patulin producing fungi that causes decay on apple, is recognized as the main source of patulin contamination on apple and apple products. The widely used method for patulin analysis in apple juice is liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate followed by HPLC-UV or LC-MS detection. Previous studies have shown cyclodextrin polymers to exhibit favorable sorption properties for several classes of small organic molecules, including patulin in apple juice. In this study, an insoluble polymer composed of cyclodextrin crosslinked with 4,4’-methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate) was synthesized for use in the solid phase extraction of patulin from apple juice. Conditions investigated for this method were solvent for column conditioning, sample volume to load patulin on the column, solvent for washing, and solvent and volume for patulin elution and optimized recovery of patulin from the column. At the optimized conditions, the recovery and relative standard deviation (RSD) of patulin from apple juice spiked at 10, 20, 50, 80, and 100 ng mL-1 were 78 and 16%, 71 and 9.4%, 78 and 14%, 71 and 5.0%, 67 and 2.0%, respectively. Limit of quantitation (LOQ) of patulin in apple juice by this method was 10 ng mL-1.