Review on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the mycotoxin citrinin

Citrinin is a toxic metabolite produced by several filamentous fungi of the genera Penicillium, Aspergillus and Monascus, which has been encountered as a natural contaminant in grains, foods, feedstuffs, as well as biological fluids. This mycotoxin is hepato-nephrotoxic and implicated in disease outbreaks in animals and humans. Some analytical systems have been developed for its detection and quantification. The purpose of this paper is to review physicochemical properties, qualitative and quantitative analytical methods of citrinin, evaluate advantages and disadvantages of various analytical techniques, and bring forward some constructive suggestions on establishment of international criteria for quality control of products contaminated with citrinin by comparing chromatographic properties, sample pre-treatment, recovery rate and detection limit of citrinin among various analytical methods. This paper concentrates the most important achievements on the analytical methods of citrinin published from 1980 to early 2004.