A great number of food matrices have been recognized as susceptible to mycotoxin contamination. The toxicological effects of these mycotoxins when ingested by animal and humans and the possibility to find them in finished products are causing great concern among producers and consumers. Thus, the availability of methods for screening foodstuffs is essential and has moved the scientific commnity in the direction of discovering and developing new convenient, reproducible and sensitive methods of detection and decontamination. Since several mycotoxins (such as aflatoxins, ochratoxins, zearalenones, etc.) are naturally fluorescent, modified and unmodified cyclodextrins may be used as fluorescence enhancers on account of their ability to form inclusion complexes as with organic guests. Indeed, the inclusion of a mycotoxin (completely or partially) into the cyclodextrin cavity, can afford an apolar surrounding around the complexed chromophore and induce an increase of its fluorescence. The aim of this thesis is to study the interactions of mycotoxins (aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and zearalenone) with cyclodextrins in order to use them as receptors of mycotoxins for analytical purposes (in particular for fluorescence enhancement) but also eventually for detoxifying food and feed matrices.

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