Simple colorimetric estimation of cyclopiazonic acid in contaminated food and feeds.

A method has been developed for quantitative determination of cyclopiazonic acid, a mycotoxin produced by a common food contaminant, Penicillium cyclopium. The organism was grown successively in synthetic minimal medium, rice, corn, and wheat for 15 days. The toxin was extracted with chloroform followed by separation by thin layer chromatography. A colorimetric assay procedure has been successfully developed for the analysis of cyclopiazonic acid present in infected rice, corn, and wheat. The sensitivity of the method was tested by using recovery experiments.