[Hygienic significance of sterigmatocystin in vegetable foods. 1. Analytical detection of sterigmatocystin].

The present paper gives a survey of the chemical, physical and biological properties of the mycotoxin sterigmatocystin. It must be regarded as toxic to warm-blooded animals and as cancerogenic. It is likely to occur in foods; therefore, its analytical detection is necessary. With reference to known confirmatory reactions, a method is described for the semi-quantitative determination of sterigmatocystin in fruit and vegetables. This method permits to detect 20 microgram/kg of food by means of thin-layer chromatography, after column-chromatographic purification on silica gel. The identity is confirmed by derivatization to the semi-acetal by treatment with trifluoro-acetic anhydride. The method is suited especially for the routine control of foods.