Fumonisin B1 (FB1) and fumonisin B2 (FB2) are the main members of a family of mycotoxins produced by various fungal species belonging to the Gibberella fujikuroi complex. The present work shows the results of a comparative study of various clean-up and derivatization procedures for analysis of fumonisins in rice cultures. Fumonisins were extracted from rice with acetonitrile/water (50/50, v/v). For clean-up, three solid-phase extraction procedures were assayed (C18 cartridge, SAX cartridge, and a combination of both). Two reagents (o-phthaldialdehyde and 4-fluoro-7-nitro-benzofurazan) were studied comparatively for formation of fluorescent derivatives. The separation was carried out by LC using a fluorescence detector. The best procedure for analysis of fumonisins in rice involved clean-up with C18 cartridge and derivatization with o-phthaldialdehyde. The limit of detection was 0.010 mg kg(-1) for both toxins. In the 10-500 mg kg(-1) spiking level range, the recovery rates for FB1 and FB2 in rice varied from 94.6% to 103.6% and from 96.3% to 101.9%, respectively. The optimized analytical method for determination of fumonisins in rice was applied to the study of FB1 and FB2 production by four isolates of the G. fujikuroi species complex in rice cultures carried out at different temperatures and water activities to establish the influence of strain and environmental conditions on fumonisin production in this cereal. In general, fumonisin production was the highest at 20 degrees C and lowest at 37 degrees C. Four of the five assayed water activity (aw) values (0.97, 0.98, 0.99, and 1.0) did not affect significantly fumonisin accumulation but fumonisins were not detected in cultures when aw was 0.96.