NATURAL OCCURRENCE OF DEOXYNIVALENOL IN SOYBEAN GROWN IN SERBIA - Soybean and Wheat Crops: Growth, Fertilization, and Yield - page 103

Chapter 6
N ATURAL O CCURRENCE OF
D EOXYNIVALENOL IN S OYBEAN G ROWN IN S ERBIA
Biljana Abramović 1, * and Igor Jajić 2
1 Faculty of Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Trg D. Obradovića 3,
21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
2 Faculty of Agriculture, Trg D. Obradovića 8, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
A BSTRACT
Production of healthy food in sufficient amounts is, among the others, hindered by
the activity of various plant pathogens, of which fungi have an especially negative
impact. Fusarium species produce a broad spectrum of toxins including fumonisins,
trichothecenes of the A- and B-type, and zearalenone. When contaminated plants are used
as food and feed the toxins involved exhibit a lot of harmful effects on humans and
animals. The occurrence of Fusarium toxins in cereals has been registered all over the
world. However, in contrast to corn and wheat, no special attention has been paid to the
study of Fusarium toxins in soybean. Because of that the aim of this study was to gain an
insight into the presence of deoxynivalenol (DON) in soybean grown in Serbia, based on
the analysis of 42 soybean and soybean meal samples collected during 2004-2007, as
well as to compare the obtained results with data pertaining to a number of countries.
Samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography on ODS Hypersil column with DAD
detector. The DON content was above the limit of quantification (0.040 mg/kg) in 16.7%,
with an average content in positive samples of 0.248 mg/kg (concentration range
0.10−0.45 mg DON/kg). However, none of the samples contained DON above the
advisory level of 500 μg/kg of DON, passed by the European Union, which is not related
strictly to soybean but to cereal products as consumed and other cereal products at retail
stage.
Keywords: Deoxynivalenol, Soybean, LC, Serbia