Occurrence of Deoxynivalenol in Korean Barley and Barley Products

Abstract

Fifty-two samples of two-rowed malting barley, six-rowed husked barley, and six-rowed hulless barley were collected from fields in Korea and screened for Fusarium graminearum and deoxynivalenol (DON). Processed barley products such as commercial barley malt, pearled barley, pearled transversally cut barley, barley cookies, and barley tea were collected from various retail stores for this study. The average mold infection rates were 57% in two-rowed malting barley, 89% in six-rowed husked barley, and 38% in six-rowed hulless barley. HPLC and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit were used to determine the level of DON contamination in barley samples. The average level of DON was 1.19 μg/g for six-rowed husked barley, 0.44 μg/g for two-rowed malting barley, and 0.59 μg/g for six-rowed hulless barley. The average DON concentration of commercial barley products was 0.39 μg/g for barley malt, 0.35 μg/g for pearled transversally cut barley, 0.34 μg/g for pearled barley, and 0.11 μg/g for pearled and pressed barley. DON was not detected in barley tea and cookies among the processed barley products.