The effect of drying method and storage time on citrinin activity in corn

Sterilized whole corn was inoculated with a Penicillium spp.,3 a citrinin-producing fungus, and incubated at room temperature for 8 weeks. The corn was then blended and divided into two parts, which were dried either in air at room temperature (ADC) or in a forced draft oven at 60 C for 24 hr (ODC). Each batch of corn was ground and stored in plastic containers. The corn was fed to broiler chicks prior to and after 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of storage at 4 C. The inoculated corn was fed undiluted or blended with noninoculated corn to give mixtures containing one-third and two-thirds of inoculated corn. Noninoculated corn, inoculated corn, and blends of the two were fed to chicks for 5 hr as the only feed. Feed consumption, water intake, and excretion were measured at the end of the test. The citrinin contents of the ADC at 3, 6, 9, and 12 mo were 824, 599, 667, and 590 ppm and were 928, 541, 781, and 490 ppm for the ODC at the same periods. Water consumption and water excretion increased as the amount of citrinin intake increased. Neither drying method nor length of storage affected the citrinin activity in the corn. The citrinin in ODC was neither bound nor converted to a derivative that was unextractable.