Quality and occurrence of deoxynivalenol and fumonisins in craft beer

Beer is an alcoholic beverage consumed on a regular basis by many people around the world. Consequently, beer quality and, specifically, its impact on the future health of the consumer must be considered seriously. One issue is the action of mycotoxins and their impact on the beverage. In this sense, the objective of the present study was to determine the occurrence of Deoxynivalenol (DON) and Fumonisin B-1 (Fill) in many artisanal beers from southern Brazil and, additionally, to evaluate their physicochemical properties. The methods applied for physic-chemical characteristics were from the AOAC and Adolfo Lutz Institute. The analyses for mycotoxins were conducted using high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection for fumonisin B-1 and ultraviolet detection for deoxynivalenol. The physic-chemical results were in agreement with some studies and with Brazilian regulations. DON and FB1, were present in 32 and 15.09% of the samples, respectively. The concentrations found in craft beer from southern Brazil were probably caused by the widespread and high occurrence of these toxins in barley. Furthermore, the level of mycotoxins seem to be very stable during the brewing process. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.