An official website of the United States government.
The fumonisins are mycotoxins produced by Fusarium moniliforme and other Fusarium species in corn. Fumonisins have been implicated as the causal agents in a variety of animal and human diseases. The main objective of this study was to determine the effects of thermal processing on the stability of fumonisin B1 (FB1) spiked into corn-based foods.
<p>
Processes that were studied included extrusion, frying and canning. FB1 loss in the extruded grits ranged from 43 to 70%. For samples extruded in the mixing and non-mixing modes, extrusion temperature and moisture levels had no significant effects on FBI degradation. No significant losses of FBI were found when corn masa was fried at 140-170 C for 0 to 6 min. FB1 began to degrade at frying temperatures >180 C and times >6 min. Canning had little effect on FB1 levels in whole and creamed corn. These processing studies suggest that fumonisins are heat stable compounds under most food processing conditions.</p>