A gas chromatography-flame ionization detection method for detection of fusaproliferin in corn

A sensitive and accurate detection method is of great importance in monitoring fusaproliferin levels in foods and animal feeds and evaluating its potential hazard to human and animal health. Several methods have been developed to detect fusaproliferin in cereals and cereal-related products, including thin-layer chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (MS), gas chromatography (GC), and GC-MS. However, these detection methods either suffer from low sensitivity, need expensive instruments, or are susceptible to interfering substances in the sample matrix. The GC-flame ionization detector method developed herein is sensitive, reliable, and easy to use for detecting fusaproliferin in corn and corn-based samples. Its detection limits were 0.04 ng for standard trimethylsilyl-fusaproliferin and about 5 ppb for fusaproliferin in corn samples. The limits of quantitation of this method were 0.15 ng fusaproliferin/injection and 20 ppb of fusaproliferin in corn samples. The recovery rates of fusaproliferin from corn samples spiked with 200, 1000, and 5000 ppb standard fusaproliferin were 109, 85.7, and 98.9% on average. The repeatability of the method was acceptable when evaluated by the Horwitz equation. Of the tested corn samples, three out of five sweet corn and the three yellow corn samples were found to have low levels of fusaproliferin (9.4-45.3 ppb). A moldy corn sample had a fusaproliferin content of 297 ppb.