Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Feb;3(2):134-41.
doi: 10.3390/toxins3020134. Epub 2011 Feb 14.

Metabolism of zearalenone in the course of beer fermentation

Kohei Mizutani  1 , Yasushi Nagatomi, Naoki Mochizuki
Affiliations

Metabolism of zearalenone in the course of beer fermentation

Kohei Mizutani et al. Toxins (Basel). 2011 Feb.

Abstract

Zearalenone (ZON) is a mycotoxin with estrogenic activity, produced by members of Fusarium species, and is found worldwide in a number of cereal crops. It is known to have four active metabolites (α-zearalenol (α-ZOL), β-zearalenol (β-ZOL), α-zearalanol (α-ZAL), and β-zearalanol (β-ZAL)). A highly sensitive analytical method using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry using electrospray ionization (LC-ESI-MS/MS) has been established and validated in order to analyze ZON and its metabolites in beer and malt samples. The metabolism of ZON in the course of beer fermentation was further characterized using the artificially contaminated wort by this established method. In the fermented sample, 85.9% of ZON was converted to β-ZOL, which has lower estrogenic activity than that of ZON. These findings indicate that the health risk to humans due to ZON in beer is reduced during the fermentation process.

Keywords: beer; fermentation; liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS); metabolite; zearalenone.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structures of Zearalenone (ZON), its major metabolites and internal standard used.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chromatograms of standard for ZON and its metabolites at a concentration of 10 ng/g.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Line chart visualizing temporal changes in concentration of ZON and its metabolites over the fermentation period.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Betina V. In: Mycotoxins Chemical, Biological and Environmental Aspects. Betina V., editor. Vol. 9 Elsevier; Amsterdam, The Netherlands: 1989.
    1. Hagler W.M., Mirocha C.J. Biosynthesis of [14C] Zearalenone from [1-14C]Acetate by Fusarium reseum ‘Gibbosum’. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 1980;39:668–670. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mirocha C.J., Schauerhamer B., Christensen C.M., Niku-Paavola M.L., Nummi M. Incidence of Zearalenol (Fusarium Mycotoxin) in Animal Feed. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 1979;38:749–750. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Okoye Z.S. Stability of zearalenone in naturally contaminated corn during Nigerian traditional brewing. Food Addit. Contam. 1987;4:57–59. - PubMed
    1. Scott P.M. Mycotoxins transmitted into beer from contaminated grains during brewing. J. Assoc. Off. Anal. Chem. Int. 1996;79:875–882. - PubMed

MeSH terms