Rapid screening of wheat bran contaminated by deoxynivalenol mycotoxin using Raman spectroscopy - a preliminary experiment

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a mycotoxin frequently occurring in cereals and derived products, and regulated in many countries Raman spectroscopy performed using optical fibers, with excitation at 1064 nm and a dispersive detection scheme, was utilized to analyze wheat bran samples naturally contaminated with DON. A multivariate processing of the spectroscopic data allowed to distinguish two classes of contamination, with DON below and above 400 mu g/kg, respectively. Only one highly contaminated sample was misclassified. This preliminary result demonstrates the potential of Raman spectroscopy as a useful analytical tool for the non-destructive and rapid analysis of mycotoxins in food.