Occurrence of deoxynivalenol (vomitoxin) in processed cereals and pulses in Turkey.

The aim was to investigate the occurrence of deoxynivalenol (DON) in cereal and pulse products in Turkey. DON was detected using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultraviolet detection at 220 nm and positive results greater or equal to 0.60 ppm were confirmed by thin layer chromatography (TLC). An acetonitrile-water (21:4 v/v) extract of the sample was cleaned up on a column packed with alumina-Celite-charcoal (0.35 + 0.25 + 0.40 g). The detection limits for DON were 3 ng/injection (0.10 ppm) and 50 ng/spot (0.60 ppm) for HPLC and TLC, respectively. Eighty-three commercially available cereal and pulse product samples collected from markets and street bazaars were analysed. The recovery rates for boiled, pounded wheat and rice spiked with added DON (1 ppm) were 80.9% (SD 8.37, n=5) and 72.3% (3.85, n=5), respectively. DON was detected in six (8.82%) of 68 cereal and in none of 15 pulse products. The maximum detected amount was 2.67 ppm in a corn flour sample.

Incidence of patulin in apple juices marketed in Turkey.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the patulin contamination of apple juices consumed by the Turkish population. Patulin was detected using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a UV detector at 280 nm, and the identification of patulin was further confirmed by thin-layer chromatography (TLC). Using HPLC, the recoveries were 79.9 +/- 6.7% and 83.7 +/- 4.6%, and the coefficients of variation were 8.4 and 5.5% for apple juices spiked with the known amounts of patulin (60 and 120 microg/liter. respectively). The minimum patulin level detected was 5 ng in a standard solution and 5 microg/liter in apple juices. The TLC method was used only to confirm patulin levels higher than 20 microg/liter (100 ng/spot) in apple juices. The total number of samples was 45. Patulin was present in detectable levels in 60% of apple juices at concentrations ranging from 19.1 to 732.8 microg/liter. Forty-four percent of the apple juice samples had patulin contamination levels higher than 50 microg/ liter, which is the allowable upper limit in Turkey.

Occurrence of T-2 toxin in processed cereals and pulses in Turkey determined by HPLC and TLC.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the T-2 toxin level of contaminated cereal and pulse products in Turkey. T-2 toxin was detected using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection at 208 nm and thin layer chromatography (TLC) was used for confirmation of the T-2 toxin-contaminated samples (> or = 1 ppm). The recovery was 93 +/- 3.3% (SD 3.29, n = 5) for chickpea spiked with a known amount of T-2 toxin (1 ppm). The detection limits for T-2 toxin for HPLC and TLC were 25 ng per injection and 50 ng per spot, respectively. A total of 50 commercially available cereal and pulse product samples, collected from markets and street bazaars, were analysed. Incidences of T-2 toxin detected in cereal and pulse products were 23.5% and 31.2%, respectively and the maximum detected amount was 1.9 ppm in a sample of dried beans. The incidence of toxin-contaminated specimens is not so low relative to the volume of specimens produced.

Determination of fumonisin B1 and B2 in corn and corn-based products in Turkey by high-performance liquid chromatography.

The purpose of this study was to investigate fumonisin B1 (FB1)- and B2 (FB2)-contaminated corn and corn-based products consumed especially by the Turkish population. FB1 and FB2 were detected using high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. The total number of commercially available corn and corn-based product samples analyzed in this research was 82. The recoveries were found to be 94.4 +/- 4.62% and 86.5 +/- 4.86% for cornmeal spiked with known amounts of FB1 and FB2 (1 ppm), respectively. The minimum detectable amount for the o-phthaldialdehyde derivatives of FB1 and FB2 were 1 ng and 5 ng, respectively. Detected levels of FB1 were between 0.25 ppm and 2.66 ppm in 25.6% of the samples, and detected level of FB2 in a single cornmeal sample was 0.55 ppm.

Determination of T-2 toxin in grain and grain products by HPLC and TLC.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the T-2 toxin contaminated grain and grain products consumed especially by Turkish population. The T-2 toxin was detected using the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detector at 208 nm and the identify of T-2 was further confirmed by thin layer chromatography (TLC). The recovery was 91 +/- 4.24% for corn flour fortified with the known amount of T-2 toxin (1 ppm). The detection limits of T-2 toxin for the HPLC and the TLC were 25 ng and 50 ng, respectively. A total of 30 commercially available grain and grain product samples were analyzed. Two corn flour samples were found to contain detectable levels of T-2 toxin at a level of 1.60 ppm and 4.08 ppm.

Effects of carbamazepine on hepatic glutathione level in rats and determination of carbamazepine and its epoxide metabolite in plasma by HPLC.

We investigated whether carbamazepine, which is known to be metabolized to an electrophilic epoxide derivative in the body, causes any decrease, analogous to the action of epoxides, of hepatic glutathione (GSH) level in rats. Carbamazepine was administered to rats and liver GSH levels were determined spectrophotometrically. Neither a single low nor repeated low doses (30 mg/kg) of carbamazepine (CBZ) produced a statistically significant difference in GSH levels relative to controls. A single high dose of CBZ (100 mg/kg) produced a large and significant decrease relative to control (GSH level 3.82 +/- 0.64 vs 6.54 +/- 0.45 mumol GSH/g liver). CBZ and its metabolite carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide were determined in plasma by HPLC after the high dose of carbamazepine administration. The concentrations of carbamazepine and carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide were 18.9 +/- 2.9 micrograms/ml and 10.7 +/- 2.8 micrograms/ml, respectively.