Application of ATR-FTIR analysis for determination of fumonisins in corn

Abstract

In order to develop rapid, inexpensive and, at the same time, reliable method for the analysis of molds of the genus Fusarium as an indicator of the presence of fumonisins in corn samples, possible application of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) with attenuated total reflection (ATR) technique was examined. The content of fumonisins in contaminated corn samples had previously been quantified by ELISA method. At the spectrum of the sample contaminated with a high concentration of mycotoxins, there was a lack of the peak at 1,743 cm-1, but the peak was observed at 1709 cm-1. To the purpose of result classification the principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis were applied. Conclusions of the two methods were similar both when applying ATR technique in the whole region of the spectrum (1,150-1,770 cm-1) and when the whole spectrum was divided into two regions: 1,150-1,450 and 1,450-1,770 cm-1. However, classification of samples was somewhat better in the ranges 1,150-1,770 and 1,450-1,770 cm-1 . Of the 16 analyzed corn samples, only very contaminated corn sample with 190 mg/kg was correctly classified as compared to the other samples with the content of less than 10 mg/kg. Also, it was found-passing recording of spectra of contaminated corn of the same genotype in order to avoid the possible impact of different hybrids on the spectrum. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. OI 172042]

Keywords

• ATR-FTIR
• fumonisins
• corn