FUMONISIN OCCURRENCE IN CORN FROM HIGH-RISK AND LOW-RISK AREAS FOR HUMAN ESOPHAGEAL CANCER IN CHINA

Forty-seven corn samples were collected in 1989 from Linxian and Shangqiu Counties in Henan Province, the high- and low-risk areas, respectively, for human esophageal cancer in the People's Republic of China. The samples were analyzed for fumonisin (fumonisin B, [FB,] and FB,) contamination. Of the fumonisin-positive samples, the mean levels in Linxian corn were found to be 872 ng/g for FB1 and 448 ng/g for FB2, while the Shangqiu corns had 890 ng of FB1 and 330 ng of FB2 per g. The incidence of fumonisin contamination of Linxian corn (48%) was about two times higher than that of Shangqiu corn (25%), and the former corn samples were frequently cocontaminated with trichothecenes. Fusarium species isolated from corn from Linxian County produced FB1 at levels ranging from 1,280 to 11,300 mu g/g.