Zearalenone (ZEN) is a Fusarium-derived xenoestrogenic mycotoxin.In plants, zearalenone-14-O-β-d-glucoside (Z14G) is the major conjugated metabolite of ZEN, and is a masked mycotoxin.Masked mycotoxins are plant-modified derivatives, which are not routinely screened in food and feed samples.Cyclodextrins (CDs) are cyclic oligosaccharides built up from D-glucopyranose units.
CDs can form stable host−guest type complexes with lipophilic molecules (e.g., with some mycotoxins).In this study, the interaction of Z14G with native and chemically kk205 modified β- and γ-CDs was examined employing fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular modeling.
Furthermore, the removal of Z14G from aqueous solution by insoluble β-CD bead polymer (BBP) was also tested.Our results demonstrate that Z14G forms the most stable complexes with γ-CDs under acidic and neutral conditions (K ≈ 103 L/mol).Among the CDs tested, randomly methylated γ-CD induced the highest increase in the fluorescence of Z14G (7.1-fold) and formed the most stable complexes with the mycotoxin (K = 2 × 103 L/mol).
Furthermore, miss to mrs cookie BBP considerably reduced the Z14G content of aqueous solution.Based on these observations, CD technology seems a promising tool to improve the fluorescence analytical detection of Z14G and to discover new mycotoxin binders which can also remove masked mycotoxins (e.g., Z14G).