Investigations into the occurrence of alkaloids in ergot and single sclerotia from the 2007 and 2008 harvests

M Appelt; F M Ellner

doi:10.1007/s12550-009-0014-2

Investigations into the occurrence of alkaloids in ergot and single sclerotia from the 2007 and 2008 harvests

Mycotoxin Res. 2009 Jun;25(2):95-101. doi: 10.1007/s12550-009-0014-2. Epub 2009 Jun 3.

Authors

M Appelt¹, F M Ellner

Affiliation

¹ Julius Kühn-Institut, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Ecochemistry, Plant Analysis and Stored Product Protection, Königin-Luise-Str. 19, 14195, Berlin, Germany.

PMID: 23604985
DOI: 10.1007/s12550-009-0014-2

Abstract

As a contribution to the occurrence of ergot alkaloids in ergot from German rye and triticale, samples from the 2007 and 2008 harvests were analyzed. Twelve alkaloids-six pairs of main alkaloids and their corresponding epimers-were determined in extracts prepared under alkaline conditions by HPLC with fluorescence detection without preceding purification. The total alkaloid content was found to be 0.03-0.18% in ergot from rye (n = 19) and 0.06-0.22% in ergot from triticale (n = 4), respectively. Furthermore, single sclerotia (n = 40) were investigated in terms of alkaloid content and distributional pattern. The main alkaloids in ergot were ergocristine, ergotamine and ergocornine, although the alkaloid composition was highly variable.