Survey of fumonisin B1 contamination of corn in northern Iran during 2000

Fumonisin B1 [FB1] is the most abundant of the fumonisin mycotoxins, mainly produced in corn by fungi of the genus Fusarium. FB1 has been shown to be hepatocarcinogenic and nephrocarcinogenic in animals. Contamination of corn with FB1 was assayed in samples collected from Mazandaran Province, situated on the Caspian littoral of Iran, in September 2000. In this survey, 38 corn samples were analyzed using HPLC, and all except one showed high levels of FB1 contamination ranged between 1.19 and 12.95 mg/kg. These results confirm the relatively high levels of FB1 contamination in corn of Mazandaran Province