Gas chromatographic detection of the mycotoxin zearalenone in blood serum

A sensitive gas chromatographic method for the quantitative analysis of zearalenone in blood serum is described. Zearalenone is eluted from blood serum by column chromatography followed by base-acid extraction with dichloromethane as the organic phase. After epicoprostanol (internal standard) is added, the sample is evaporated to dryness, derivatized, and injected onto the gas chromatographic column. A number of silylating agents and reaction conditions were investigated. Derivatizing zearalenone with N-methyl-N-trimethylsilyltrifluoroacetamide in the presence of acetone at room temperature for at least 2 hr gave best results. Sensitivity limit is < 0.5 ng injected, equivalent to 100 ng zearalenone/mL blood serum. A linear standard curve is observed when 0.5-30 ng zearalenone derivative is injected onto the Perkin-Elmer gas chromatograph. For quantitation, a standard curve is prepared by plotting amounts of zearalenone (ng) injected vs. ratios for peak areas of zearalenone and epicoprostanol derivatives. The internal standard procedure improves the precision by minimizing variations in sample injections and detector response. Percent recovery from blood serum is 68-75 in the range of 1.6-8.0 micrograms zearalenone/mL blood.