A survey of mold flora and of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol in corn imported to ISRAEL

Shipments of corn imported to Israel from the U.S.A. during 1985 were sampled during unloading and examined for the presence of fungi and the trichothecene deoxynivalenol (DON). The most frequent species found on the corn wasAspergillus flavus followed byA. versicolor; three otherAspergilli — A. niger, A. ochraceus andA. fumigatus — were found at a much lower frequency. DON analysis was performed by electron capture detection gas chromatography after derivatization with heptafluorobutyryl imidazole. At fortification levels of 0.1, 1 and 2 μg/g, recoveries of 80—100% were obtained. Although DON was not detected in any of the samples analyzed, the observation (in the shipments) of fungi belonging to the generaFusarium andAspergillus suggests a potential danger of mycotoxin contamination. The relatively high moisture content of the samples increased the likelihood of such a hazard.