Rapid high pressure liquid chromatography of patulin in apple juice

A rapid method has been developed for screening patulin in apple juice. The sample is extracted with ethyl acetate and the extract is cleaned up by extraction with a sodium carbonate solution. Patulin is determined after high pressure liquid chromatography on a Spherisorb 5 micrometer ODS column with an ultraviolet detector set at 276 nm. The detection limit of the method is 5 micrograms/L and recovery is 70-75%.