Abstract
Abstract Zearalenone (ZEN) is a mycotoxin that occurs in all stages of plant growth and development and exerts harmful effects on humans and animals. Zearalenone is easily absorbed in the digestive tract, and it is metabolized in the intestinal wall and the liver. Zearalenone has several derivatives: zearalenone, zearalanone (ZAN), α-zearalenol (α-ZEL), β-zearalenol (β-ZEL), α-zearalanol (α-ZAL) and β-zearalanol (β-ZAL). These substances have a high affinity for estrogen receptors, and they can gradually affect the endocrine system. Excess ZEN and its metabolites are excreted with urine and bile. This paper analyzes ZEN metabolism and investigates the presence of ZEN and its metabolites in urine. Since the isolation of ZEN and its metabolites from different matrices still poses a significant problem, the paper also presents various sample preparation methods (including liquid-solid extraction, liquid-liquid extraction and other techniques) as well as sensitive and specific chromatographic techniques, including liquid chromatography (LC) with fluorescence and mass spectrometry detection, gas chromatography (GC) and thin-layer chromatography (TLC).
Highlights
The presence of ZEN and its metabolites can be determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with various detectors
The adverse effects of ZEN can contribute to many hormonedependent diseases
Zearalenone is ubiquitous in food products, which spurs the search for effective methods of neutralizing this toxin
Summary
Keywords: zearalenone, metabolites, urine, sample Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by preparation, chromatographic analysis numerous fungi of the genera Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Penicillium. Mycotoxins may occur in food and feed as a result of fungal infections in crops. Due to their specific metabolism, the ingested mycotoxins are accumulatedAnna Kuźniewska, Bogusław Buszewski: Department of Environmental Chemistry and Bioanalytics, Faculty of Chemistry, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Gagarina 7, 87-100 Toruń, Poland. Interdisciplinary Center for Modern Technologies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Wileńska 4, 87-100 Toruń, Poland.in different organs or tissues [1,2]. In 1960, the outbreak of the turkey X disease, which killed 100,000 ducks, turkeys and pheasants in the United Kingdom, led to a breakthrough in our understanding of mycotoxin-induced diseases. The affected animals were fed the same peanut mixture contaminated with a toxin produced mainly by Aspergillus flavus bacteria [2,3].
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