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 B1 (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 microg/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 microg/kg, respectively. Starch samples were found to be free from Fusarium mycotoxins. Baking balady bread at 450 degrees C/min reduced FB1 to 72.4% while baking Franco bread at 250 degrees C/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 B1 and G1 at levels ranging from 6 to 10 ppm, whereas 2.9% of samples were contaminated with aflatoxin B1 > 35 ppm and G1 > 16 ppm.