Incidence of zearalenone and fumonisins in Bulgarian cereal production

Ninty-one small-grain cereals (wheat, barley, maize) collected during the 2007 harvest in Bulgaria were tested for zearalenone (ZON) and fumonisins contamination. Analytical methods based on immunoaffinity clean-up and detection by liquid chromatography was used after validation. Limits of detection for ZON in different matrices were below 4.0 μg/kg in barley and wheat, and slightly higher for maize (17.6 μg/kg). The limit of quantification for ZON was 12 μg/kg in barley and wheat, and 58.8 μg/kg in maize. Recovery values ranged between 84% and 105%. The occurrence of ZON in cereals were rather low and only single incidences was found – up to 148 μg/kg for maize and 36.6 μg/kg for other cereals. Fumonisins in maize have showed a widespread distribution (in 94.7% of tested samples). One of the tested samples was contaminated above the established maximum limits for unprocessed maize.