The occurrence of the selected fusarium mycotoxins in Czech malting barley

In 2008-2011, the occurrence of deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZON), T-2 toxin (T-2), and HT-2 toxin (HT-2) was studied in 325 malting barley samples collected from various regions of the Czech Republic. The highest occurrence of fusarium mycotoxins was recorded in crop 2009 (2213.5, 59.4 and 145.0 mu g/kg for DON, ZON and Sigma T-2, HT-2, respectively). Only one measured value exceeded the maximum allowable limit for DON set by the European Union. The validated method of high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry was used for the analysis of the above mentioned toxins. Limits of detection were 1.5 mu g/kg for DON, ZON and HT-2 and 0.3 mu g/kg for T-2, the limits of quantification were 5.0 mu g/kg for DON, ZON and HT-2 and 1.0 mu g/kg for T-2. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.