Abstract
Patulin is a mycotoxin produced mainly by Penicillium expansum that commonly contaminates apples. Studies with fungi or animals have demonstrated that patulin has a broad spectrum of toxicity, including mutagenicity, teratogenicity, and carcinogenicity. In human beings, it has caused nausea, vomiting and gastrointestinal disturbance. In the United States, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has announced that patulin is a potential carcinogen. It is regulated for apple juice in several European countries at a maximum permitted level of 50 μg/L, as suggested by the World Health Organization. In the present study, patulin was extracted with ethyl acetate and was then cleaned up by extraction with sodium carbonate solution. Patulin was determined after reverse phase HPLC on a C18 column with UV detection at 276 nm. The linear regression coefficient of the standard curve (Y= 0.013333X + 0.014789) for patulin at concentrations ranging from 1 to 2000 μg/L was 0.999995. The recovery rates for patulin at 20, 50, 100 and 200 μg/L ranged from 93.1% to 96.6% with a coefficient of variation less than 3.0%. The instrument detection limit was 0.05 ng and quantification limit was 15 μg/L. A survey with 105 retailed pure apple juice and apple juice containing mixed juice samples showed that 93 samples (88.5%) were negative for patulin and only 12 pure apple juice samples (11.4%) contained patulin at concentrations ranging from 15.4 to 39.9 μg/L. All of the detected samples contained patulin were below the level suggested by the World Health Organization.
Recommended Citation
Lai, C.-L.; Fuh, Y.-M.; and Shih, D.Y.-C.
(2000)
"Detection of Mycotoxin Patulin in Apple Juice,"
Journal of Food and Drug Analysis: Vol. 8
:
Iss.
2
, Article 5.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.38212/2224-6614.2841
