Fungicides and the effects of mycotoxins on milling fractions of irrigated rice.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of fungicides on rice cultivation, regarding the occurrence and the distribution of mycotoxins in fractions of the processed grain, by a validated chromatographic method. A method based on extraction with acetonitrile:water, determination by HPLC-DAD, and confirmation by LC-MS was validated before the mycotoxin evaluation. Control samples and samples to which triazole fungicides had been applied were collected from experimental fields for four years. Results showed that 87% of the samples were contaminated with deoxynivalenol or zearalenone, and that all samples treated with fungicide were contaminated with some of these mycotoxins. Aflatoxin B(1) and ochratoxin A were found in 37% of the samples; half of them had been treated with fungicide. Therefore, fungicides tend to be stressors for toxigenic fungi found in the fields.