Abstract
The microbial conversion of zearalenone by various species of fungi was studied. Among them, Rhizopus sp. was the sole fungus which produced a new metabolite from zearalenone in addition to alpha- and beta-zearalenol. The structure of the new metabolite was determined to be zearalenone 4-beta-D-glucopyranoside on the basis of mass, infrared, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies. The results suggest that the mycelium of Rhizopus sp. catalyzes the glycosidation at the C-4 position of zearalenone.