Liquid chromatographic determination of patulin in fruit juices sold in Cote d'Ivoire

A high performance liquid chromatography method was developed for the determination of patulin in fruit juices sold in C (o) over cap te d'Ivoire. Patulin is considered as a natural contaminant of fruit juices. The method involved extraction with organic solvent. Patulin was resolved with a C18 reversed phase-phase column followed by UV detection. Results of validation tests were satisfactory. Application of the method to the analysis of three manufactured types of fruits juices showed that few samples contained patulin (18 %). However, patulin was found at a higher level than the admitted norm of 50 mug(.)L(-1) in one traditionally manufactured sample. These results show that contamination due to the fruit used or resulting from bad conservation conditions is possible.