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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #60970
Title: DETERMINATION OF AFLATOXINS BY SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION AND CHROMATOGRAPHY

Author
item Richard, John
item Taylor, Scott
item Greer, Judith
item King, Jerry

Submitted to: Association Official Analytical Chemists Annual Intrl Meeting & Exposition
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/21/1995
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) has been successfully applied of aflatoxins from yellow dent corn that has been spiked or field inoculated with an aflatoxin-producing organism. Samples extracted using this technique, were subsequently derivatized and analyzed by HPLC. The HPLC assay indicated 95% recovery of the field inoculated samples and 75-83% recoveries of the fortified yellow dent corn samples. Changes in sample preparation and extraction conditions will be described with respect to the concentration level of the toxin in the corn and corn type. The application of SFE to samples containing low levels of aflatoxins in white corn was also investigated to determine the effect of different corn varieties on extraction efficiency. Extraction efficiency, accuracy, and precision are affected by the temperature and pressure of the extraction, the type and quantity of cosolvent used in conjunction with the SC- CO2, and sample size. In some cases, higher capacity extraction equipment is necessary to process larger, and more representative samples. Supercritical fluid extraction can reduce the quantity of organic solvents utilized in traditional extraction protocols for aflatoxins and can be applied to small (3 g), as well as large (50 g) samples of corn, depending on the level and dispersion of aflatoxins in the sample.