Only limited and contrasting information is available about the metabolic fate in cattle of fumonisin B1, a mycotoxin produced by moulds of Fusarium. This study was carried out to evaluate the hepatic metabolism of fumonisin B1 by bovine liver microsomes. No biodegradation or metabolization of the mycotoxin by liver microsomes was detectable after incubating fumonisin B1 with bovine microsomes in the presence of a regenerating system for 1 h. No aminopolyol 1, aminopolyol 2 or aminopentol, metabolites of fumonisin B1, were detected in any of the incubated samples. The tolerance of ruminants to fumonisin B1 is apparently not dependent on its detoxification in the rumen.