This manuscript is a critical review of the analytical methods reported in the existing literature for the determination of mycotoxin patulin at trace/ultra-trace levels in food matrices. The article starts focusing on what mycotoxins are, their “analytical history” (more than 21,000 articles published in Scopus database): each mycotoxin is specific for a given fungus and shows toxic effects, some even being carcinogenic. Most International regulations on mycotoxins are also reported, which pertain official controls in the food chain as well as the sampling methods and the maximum tolerable limits of mycotoxins. Then the manuscript is focused on patulin, a mycotoxin that is mainly produced by the fungal species Penicillium expansum . The main characteristics and properties of patulin are discussed, including its biosynthesis, especially on stored fruits infected by P. expansum and derived products, its toxicology, and some strategies aiming at preventing and/or reducing its presence. The description of the analytical procedure for patulin starts from sampling: the extraction and analytical methods reported are based on the official protocol of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists, which relies on the high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet/diode array detector (HPLC-UV/DAD). Furthermore, an in-depth discussion of the most suitable analytical methods is reported. The first analytical step regards the analyte(s) extraction from the sample, followed by a clean-up phase, and by a final quantitative determination. This last section is divided into reference or confirmation methods, rapid screening and new methods and expected results, i.e., qualitative, quantitative, or semi-quantitative. Reference methods include TLC, GC, HPLC, and MS, whereas rapid methods include enzyme immunoassay tests, dipsticks, and lateral flow tests. Novel analytical methods include fluorescence, near infrared spectroscopy, capillary electrophoresis, and biosensors. Finally, the official method is compared with others present in the literature allowing a multi-target analysis, and its use in combination with other techniques of molecularly imprinted polymers is discussed.

中文翻译：

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食品基质中霉菌毒素棒曲霉素分析方法的批判性综述

该手稿是对现有文献中报道的测定食品基质中痕量/超痕量霉菌毒素棒曲霉素的分析方法的重要评论。本文开始关注什么是霉菌毒素，以及它们的“分析历史”（Scopus数据库中发表了21,000多篇文章）：每种霉菌毒素都对给定的真菌具有特异性，并显示出毒性作用，甚至有致癌作用。还报告了有关霉菌毒素的大多数国际法规，这些法规涉及食品链中的官方控制以及霉菌毒素的采样方法和最大容许限量。然后，手稿集中在棒曲霉素上，后者是一种真菌毒素，主要是由真菌物种青霉菌产生的。讨论了棒曲霉素的主要特性和性质，包括其生物合成，尤其是在被扩展的体育假单胞菌及其衍生产品感染的储藏水果上，其毒理学，以及一些旨在预防和/或减少其存在的策略。棒曲霉素分析程序的描述从采样开始：报告的提取和分析方法基于官方分析化学家协会的官方协议，该协议依赖于高效液相色谱-紫外线/二极管阵列检测器（HPLC- UV / DAD）。此外，报告了最合适的分析方法的深入讨论。第一步分析涉及从样品中提取分析物，然后是净化阶段，最后是定量测定。最后一部分分为参考或确认方法，快速筛选和新方法以及预期结果，即 定性，定量或半定量的。参考方法包括TLC，GC，HPLC和MS，而快速方法包括酶免疫法测试，量油尺和侧向流动测试。新颖的分析方法包括荧光，近红外光谱，毛细管电泳和生物传感器。最后，将官方方法与文献中提供的其他方法进行了比较，从而可以进行多目标分析，并讨论了其与分子印迹聚合物的其他技术结合使用的方法。