7. Conclusion

Over the last two decades, the field of mycotoxin analysis has undergone significant change, thanks in particular to the introduction of the immunoaffinity principle, which enables mycotoxins to be purified (rather than extracted) from complex food matrices. This immunopurification step produces an almost pure solution, which is in fact very similar to a toxin standard solution. As a result, analysis by chromatography or immunochemistry is reliable (few interfering peaks) and robust. This is why a number of analytical methods have been validated and published in the form of standards, encouraging legislators to propose relatively stringent regulations (maximum permissible levels in the µg/kg range) for this category of food contaminants.

However, tightening regulations are opening the way to new analytical challenges, in particular that of reliable and rapid multi-detection....