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Mycotoxins are heterogeneous chemical compounds characterized by a low molecular weight and synthesized by the secondary metabolism of different molds. Fumonisins are water-soluble mycotoxins produced by Fusarium species spoiling corn and derived products. These mycotoxins can enter the food chain also through the consumption of meat of exposed animals. Fumonisins and their metabolites have been associated with several animal and human diseases. They are suspected risk factors for esophageal and liver cancers, neural tube defects and cardiovascular problems. Improved methods are needed to accurately assess fumonisin concentrations in food from vegetable and animal origin to prevent acute and chronic human exposure. The aim of the present work was to develop a sensitive and selective method for quantification and unambiguous identification of fumonisin B1 (FB1), fumonisin B2 (FB2) and their complete hydrolyzed products (HFB1 and HFB2), in order to determine their presence in pig liver. Furthermore, the developed method was applied, in order to test its efficacy, on liver samples of weaned piglets fed a diet in compliance with the FB1 and FB2 contamination limits set by EU. All the samples showed the presence of at least one of the analytes. In particular FB1 was found in 5 out of 7 samples and the average level of contamination found was 28 ppb.

Mycotoxins are heterogeneous chemical compounds characterized by a low molecular weight and synthesized by the secondary metabolism of different molds. Fumonisins are water-soluble mycotoxins produced by Fusarium species spoiling corn and derived products. These mycotoxins can reach the human also indirectly through the consumption of food products derived from animals fed with contaminated feed. Fumonisins have been associated with several animal and human diseases. They are suspected risk factors for esophageal and liver cancers, neural tube defects and cardiovascular problems. Improved methods are needed to accurately assess fumonisin concentrations in food from vegetable and animal origin to prevent acute and chronic human exposure. The aim of the present work was to develop a sensitive and selective method for identification and quantification of fumonisin B1 (FB1) in milk. FB1 was isolated from milk, by a single step immunoaffinity column and was detected using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry in positive electrospray ionization (ESI+). The analysis were carried out in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode using the two main product ions. The good performances of the proposed method can assure a correct fumonisin detection in milk even at relatively low concentrations.