Review on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the mycotoxin citrinin Bao-jun Xu a,b , Xiao-qin Jia a , Li-juan Gu a , Chang-keun Sung a, * a Department of Food Science and Technology, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Chungnam National University, 220 Gung-Dong, Yusung-Gu, Taejon 305-764, South Korea b The Pharmaceutical Institute, Dalian University, Dalian 116622, China Received 9 March 2003; received in revised form 10 October 2004; accepted 11 October 2004 Abstract Citrinin is a toxic metabolite produced by several filamentous fungi of the genera Penicillium, Aspergillus and Monascus, which has been encountered as a natural contaminant in grains, foods, feedstuffs, as well as biological fluids. This mycotoxin is hepato- nephrotoxic and implicated in disease outbreaks in animals and humans. Some analytical systems have been developed for its detec- tion and quantification. The purpose of this paper is to review physicochemical properties, qualitative and quantitative analytical methods of citrinin, evaluate advantages and disadvantages of various analytical techniques, and bring forward some constructive suggestions on establishment of international criteria for quality control of products contaminated with citrinin by comparing chro- matographic properties, sample pre-treatment, recovery rate and detection limit of citrinin among various analytical methods. This paper concentrates the most important achievements on the analytical methods of citrinin published from 1980 to early 2004. Ó 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Keywords: Mycotoxin; Citrinin; TLC; HPLC; Enzyme immunoassay Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................... 272 2. General characteristics of citrinin ............................................................ 272 2.1. Physicochemical properties ............................................................. 272 2.2. Biosynthetic pathway and physiological factors affecting production ............................... 273 2.3. Toxicity and stability of citrinin ......................................................... 273 3. Qualitative and quantitative analysis .......................................................... 274 3.1. Colorimetric technique ................................................................ 274 3.2. Chromatographic technique ............................................................ 274 3.2.1. TLC technique ............................................................... 274 3.2.2. High-performance liquidchromatographic technique .................................... 276 3.3. Chromatography and mass spectrum combination technique ..................................... 281 3.3.1. LC–MS technique ............................................................ 281 0956-7135/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2004.10.012 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 42 821 6722; fax: +82 42 822 2287. E-mail address: kchsung@cnu.ac.kr (C. Sung). www.elsevier.com/locate/foodcont Food Control 17 (2006) 271–285