Metabolites in Maize from Regions of Northern Serbia in 2016-2017

The main objective of this study was to determine the presence of metabolites in maize samples collected from different regions of Northern Serbia (Bačka, Banat and Srem) during a period of two years (2016-2017). A total of 458 maize samples were analysed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. A total of 40 metabolites were detected, where 94% of the samples contained at least 5 metabolites. Fumonisins (including B, B, B and B), moniliformin and bikaverin were the most frequent (80-98%) metabolites in both years. Furthermore, in samples from 2016, fumonisin A and A, deoxynivalenol, deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside, zearalenone, culmorin, 15-hydroxyculmorin, fusapyron, fusaproliferin and aurofusarin were detected with frequencies of 58-80%. Levels of certain metabolites in 2016 were higher on average due to increased humidity when compared to 2017, which was characterised by warm and dry conditions.