Occurrence of certain mycotoxins in corn and corn-based products and thermostability of fumonisin B1 during processing

A total of 57 samples of corn and corn-based products collected from various districts of Egypt were analyzed for Fusarium mycotoxins (T-2, diacetoxyscripenol (DAS), deoxynivalenol (DON) and fumonisin B-1 (FB1) and aflatoxins. FB1 was detected in about 80%, 53.85%, 33.3%, and 28.57% of yellow corn, corn meal, white corn, and popcorn samples, respectively. The levels of FB1 ranged from 10 to 780 mug/kg. T-2 and DAS were detected in 5% and 10% of yellow corn samples, respectively, and DON was detected in white corn and popcorn samples at levels of 28.8 and 10.1 mug/kg, respectively. Starch samples were found to be free from Fusarium mycotoxins. Baking balady bread at 450 degreesC/min reduced FB1 to 72.4% while baking Franco bread at 250 degreesC/20 min reduced FB1 to 57.4%. Boiling of macaroni and corn in water completely removed FB1 from contaminated samples. On the other side, corn flakes samples were found to be contaminated with aflatoxins B-1 and G(1) at levels ranging from 6 to 10 ppm, whereas 2.9% of samples were contaminated with aflatoxin B-1 > 35 ppm and G1 > 16 ppm.