A validated UPLC-MS/MS multi-mycotoxin method for nuts and cereals: results of the official control in Cyprus within the EU requirements

Abstract

The validation of a rapid, reliable and sensitive method for the simultaneous determination of Aflatoxins, Ochratoxin A, Zearalenone, Deoxynivalenol, Fumonisins, T-2 and HT-2 toxins, in nuts and cereals is reported. This method is based on a single extraction step using an acetonitrile/water mixture followed by the analysis of the diluted crude extract using ultra highperformance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. The method performance characteristics were determined after spiking blank samples. The mean recoveries in spiked nuts ranged from 74.4% to 131.7%, while in cereals ranged from 52.8% to 113.9%. Limits of detection and quantification for nuts and cereals ranged 0.08-30.0 and 0.25-99.0 μg/kg, respectively. Validated method was used for monitoring mycotoxins in 120 samples. A total of 97 samples (81%) were contaminated with at least one of these mycotoxins, but only the 3% of the samples exceeded the maximum levels of the EU legislation.

Broad-specific monoclonal antibody based IACs purification coupled UPLC-MS/MS method for T-2 and HT-2 toxin determination in maize and cherry samples

“…From the results, it can be concluded that the developed method could be applied for T-2 and HT-2 toxin determination in maize and cherry samples. The result showed this developed IACs purification coupled UPLC-MS/MS protocol exhibited higher sensitivity results with lower LODs than published ELISA (Kawamura et al, 1990;Kierek Jaszczuk et al, 1995) or UPLC-MSMS methods (Kafouris, Christofidou, Christodoulou, Christou, & Ioannou-Kakouri, 2017). What's more, this developed protocol is the first report for T-2 and HT-2 toxin detection in cherry samples.…”

Longitudinal Investigation of the Native Grass Hay from Storage to Market Reveals Mycotoxin-Associated Fungi

“…Mycotoxins are natural chemical contaminants and secondary metabolites produced by fungi, which are toxic to animals with high-risk factors and result in a significant threat to human health [1]. Mycotoxin formation is directly associated with many biological factors, such as harvesting, processing conditions and storage period [1,2].…”

“…Mycotoxins are natural chemical contaminants and secondary metabolites produced by fungi, which are toxic to animals with high-risk factors and result in a significant threat to human health [1]. Mycotoxin formation is directly associated with many biological factors, such as harvesting, processing conditions and storage period [1,2]. This study was focused on the well-known mycotoxins, including aflatoxins B 1 (AFB 1 ), deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEN), and ochratoxin A (OTA), in hays [1,3].…”

“…Mycotoxin formation is directly associated with many biological factors, such as harvesting, processing conditions and storage period [1,2]. This study was focused on the well-known mycotoxins, including aflatoxins B 1 (AFB 1 ), deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEN), and ochratoxin A (OTA), in hays [1,3].…”

Highly sensitive lateral flow test with indirect labelling for zearalenone in baby food

“…These restrictions require detection of mycotoxins at picogram levels. Until now, such extremely low amounts of analyte could be determined only by complex instrumental methods of analysis, such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) (Kafouris et al, 2017;McNamee et al, 2017).…”