Current methods of analysis for the determination of trichothecene mycotoxins in food Julie P. Meneely, Francesco Ricci, Hans P. van Egmond, Christopher T. Elliott This article describes the trends in analytical techniques for the determination of trichothecene mycotoxins, namely deoxyniv- alenol, and T-2 and HT-2 toxins in cereals and cereal products with particular emphasis on screening and rapid approaches. The driving force behind the changing methodologies is mainly attributed to legislative demands. However, for commercial and governmental testing laboratories, the need to use validated official methods is ever increasing to ensure quality assurance of results. Much research has been undertaken to improve screening assays, highlighted by the number of new methods using a variety of formats and platforms, including optical and electrochemical biosensors. Significant advances in the traditional reference methods have also been demonstrated in addition to the emergence of a variety of commercial immunoaffinity and solid-phase extraction columns for clean up. The use of liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry for mycotoxin detection is ever increasing, allowing simultaneous determination of many toxins in various sample matrices. ª 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Deoxynivalenol (DON); Electrochemical biosensor; Food analysis; HT-2 toxin; Liquid chromatography; Mass spectrometry; Optical biosensor; Screening assay; T-2 toxin; Trichothecene mycotoxin Julie P. Meneely*, Christopher T. Elliott Institute of Agri-Food and Land Use, School of Biological Sciences, QueenÕs University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK Francesco Ricci UniversitaÕ di Roma, Tor Vergata, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche, Via della Ricerca Scientifica, Rome, Italy Hans P. van Egmond Natural Toxins and Pesticides Cluster, RIKILT – Institute of Food Safety, Wageningen, The Netherlands 1. Introduction The trichothecene mycotoxins form a large chemically diverse group of compounds produced as secondary metabolites of fungi that have been linked to human and animal diseases [1,2] through the con- sumption of contaminated grains (e.g., wheat, oats, barley, maize and rice) [1–3]. Trichothecenes are mainly produced by Fusarium species, and they are globally distributed, even in more extreme envi- ronments [4]. While Fusaria produce a great range of trichothecenes [5], other fungal genera known to produce these toxins are Trichoderma, Stachybotrys and Myrothecium to name a few [1,4]. The trichothecenes are categorized as non- macrocyclic or macrocyclic, depending on their structures, and the focus of this review will be on the non-macrocyclic compounds that are further sub-divided into type A or type B trichothecenes. The type A trichothecenes are so classified due to the presence of a hydrogen or an ester group at the C-8 position and include T-2 toxin, HT-2 toxin, neosolaniol (NEO) and diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS), while the type B trichothecenes [e.g., deoxynivalenol (DON), nivalenol (NIV), 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-AcDON), 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (15- AcDON) and fusarenone-X] contain a ketone group at this position [2]. Fig. 1 highlights the structures of the type A and type B trichothecenes of interest. Obvious clinical signs of trichothecene infection in animals include feed refusal and vomiting, growth retardation, reproductive disorders, blood disorders, dermatitis, oral lesions and depression of the immune response [1,6]. While all species are affected by these toxins, some are much more sensitive (e.g., swine and poultry). By contrast, ruminants are less affected, due to their ability to metabolize the trichothec- enes into less toxic metabolites [7,8]. Not only are these compounds patho- genic to humans and animals, their phy- totoxic nature is also of great importance in the global trade of cereal crops, as low * Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 (0) 2890 976562; Fax +44 (0) 2890 976513; E-mail: j.p.meneely@qub.ac.uk Trends Trends in Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 30, No. 2, 2011 192 0165-9936/$ - see front matter ª 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.trac.2010.06.012