Determination of Fusarium mycotoxins enniatins, beauvericin and fusaproliferin in cereals and derived products from Tunisia

Abstract In this study, 51 samples of cereals (wheat, Barley, maize and Sorghum) and by-products (mainly pasta and couscous) purchased from Tunisian supermarkets were examined for contamination with the emerging Fusarium mycotoxins: Enniatins ENs (EN A, EN A 1 , EN B and EN B 1 ), beauvericin (BEA) and fusaproliferin (FUS). The extraction of the samples was performed with methanol using an Ultra-turrax homogenizer. Mycotoxins were analyzed with a liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to a diode array detector (DAD). The frequencies of contamination of total samples with ENs were 96%. EN A 1 was the most common EN found with the highest prevalence of 92.1%, levels ranged between 11.1 and 480 mg…