Measurement of Patulin in Grapes and Wines

A fluorometric scanning technique was developed to measure patulin samples separated by two dimensional thin‐layer chromatography. The chromatographed samples were extracted and purified prior to separation. The coefficient of variation of all the measurements reported was 11.4%. Patulin was very stable in grape juice or grape wine with no significant change for 1 month at room temperature, or 2 months in the frozen state. It disappeared rapidly during fermentation to essentially a zero level. The addition of SO, at normal levels (100 mg/L) to a sample containing 25 mg/L of patulin caused the patulin to decrease to about one‐half in 15 min. Tests with badly infected grapes, Botrytis cinerea, Aspergillus niger , and Penicillium expansum , failed to show any significant amount of patulin produced under the test conditions.