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In this study, a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was applied for the simultaneous detection and quantification of a broad spectrum of mycotoxins and fungal metabolites in domestic rice in Iran. A total of 20 fungal metabolites were detected in 65 rice samples. The result showed that all of the samples were contaminated to at least one mycotoxin. The most prevalent fungal metabolites were brevianamide F (81.5%), emodin (46.1%) and tryptophol (43.1%). The occurrence of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), ochratoxin A (OTA), zearalenone (ZEN) and fumonisin B1 (FB1) was 21.5%, 4.6%, 29.2% and 9.2%, respectively. No detectable level of deoxynivelenol was found in any of the samples. The mean level of regulated mycotoxins was lower than the maximum limit. Co-occurrence of AF1-ZEN, ZEN-OTA and FB1-ZEN were observed in 4.6%, 3.1% and 4.6% of samples, respectively. This is the first report indicating the contamination of domestic rice in Iran with mycotoxins such as alternaria metabolites, citrinin, tryptophol and kojic acid.

The fumonisin B[sub 1] (FB[sub 1]) contamination of maize collected in two areas of Iran during 1999 was determined. The 20 maize samples from Mazandaran Province, situated on the Caspian littoral of Iran, consisted of random samples of farmers' lots and were all contaminated with FB[sub 1] at a mean level of 3.18 mg kg[sup -1] (range 0.68-7.66 mg kg[sup -1]). The 10 samples (of the same maize cultivar) from Isfahan Province in central Iran were purchased as maize cobs in local retail markets and had mean FB levels of 0.22 mg kg[sup -1] (mean of all samples, 6/10 samples positive, range <0.01-0.88 mg kg[sup -1]). The FB levels in Mazandaran, an area of high oesophageal cancer, were significantly (p < 0.0001) higher than the FB levels found in maize from Isfahan, an area of low oesophageal cancer in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]