Determination of Masked Mycotoxins in Cereals and Cereal-Based Foods

Mycotoxins are partly metabolised by living plants, including food crops. Humans consuming parts of the contaminated plants, especially cereals or their processed products are therefore not just exposed to the native (free) mycotoxins, but also to conjugated forms. In addition to metabolism, processing of food (e.g. cooking, baking and brewing) is another source of mycotoxin conjugates. Little is known about the occurrence, bioavailability and further metabolism of some of these bound compounds, which also escape the usual analytical detection techniques used for routine control. This leads to a potential underestimation of the total consumers’ exposure to mycotoxins.
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Fusaria are among the most prevalent fungi in the UK. The main infections with Fusaria occur on storage or in the field, where crops are still alive, growing and able to metabolise mycotoxins.
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The aim of this project was to develop and validate suitable analytical methods based on LC-MS/MS detection to detect and quantify the masked mycotoxins formed by Fusarium toxins, such as deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenol (ZON) in cereals and cereal-based foodstuffs.