ABSTRACT
Mycotoxins are a chemically and biologically diverse group of toxic metabolites produced by fungi. This chapter reviews the variety of methods that are available for the analysis of mycotoxins. Analytical methods must be extremely sensitive because the presence of even minute amounts of mycotoxins in food may have serious toxicological implications for humans. Each food is composed of compounds which may interfere with the analysis, and thus a method must be specific for a certain class of toxin present in a particular commodity. The trichothecenes are a family of toxins characterized by their tetracyclic sesquiterpenoid structure and the presence of an epoxy group at the 12, 13 carbon. Sterigmatocystin and some related difuroxanthones represent a family of mycotoxins whose structure is very similar to aflatoxin. There are many other mycotoxins which have been isolated from foods commonly consumed by humans.
