An HPTLC method for the quantification of zearalenone (ZEA) in cereals and cereal products (wheat flour and malt) has been developed. ZEA was extracted with 50 ml of acetonitrile-purified water (9+1) with addition of 2 g NaCl. The extracts were further purified on VICAM ZearalaTest((tm)) immunoaffinity columns, then analysed by instrumental high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) on silica gel plates with fluorescence detection. Ethyl acetate - n-hexane (1+1) was used as the mobile phase. The chromatogram was scanned in fluorescence mode after excitation at λ=254 nm with λ=400 nm measuring filter: SENS and SPAN parameters were 195 and 20, respectively. TheR F of ZEA under these conditions was 0.43.The recovery was 95% in the range 15-65 µg/kg cereal products; the mean relative standard deviation of repeatability (RSDr) was 7.6%. The limit of quantification (LoQ) of ZEA was 10 µg/kg. Validation of the method was performed according to the principles of the ICH for pharmaceutical analysis.
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