Determination of Aflatoxins in Medicinal Plants by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

-Purpose. The intention of the proposed work is to study the presence of the aflatoxins B 1 , B 2 , G 1 and G 2 in medicinal plants, namely Mucuna pruriens, Delphinium denudatum and Portulaca oleraceae. Methodology. The aflatoxins were extracted, purified by immunoaffinity column chromatography and analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry with electrospray ionisation (HPLC-MS/MS). Fungal count was carried out in PDA media. Results. A good linear relationship was found for AFB 1 , AFB 2 , AFG 1 and AFG 2 at 1-10 ppb (r>0.9995). The analyte accuracy under three different spiking levels was 86.7-108.1 %, with low per cent relative standard deviations in each case. The aflatoxins can be separated within 5 to7 min using an Agilent XDB C18-column. We found that AFB 1 and AFB 2 were in trace amounts below the detection limit in M. pruriens whilst they were not detected in D. denudatum. P. oleraceae was found to be contaminated with AFB 1 and AFB 2 . AFG 1 and AFG 2 were not detected in M. pruriens, P. oleraceae and were below the detection limit in D. denudatum. This was consistent with very low numbers of fungal colonies observed after 6 hr of incubation. Conclusion. The analytical method developed is simple, precise, accurate, economical and can be effectively used to determine the aflatoxins in medicinal plants and therefore to control the quality of products. The aflatoxin levels in the plant extracts examined were related to the minimal fungal load in the medicinal plants examined.

High-performance liquid chromatography ultraviolet-photodiode array detection method for aflatoxin B1 in cattle feed supplements

“…Studies have shown that HPLC-PDA detection is best when analyzing concentrations ranging from 0.25 to 1 ppm because if we are using a concentration with more than 1 ppm, more impurity peaks will be found every minute [ 26 , 27 ]. Analysis of concentrations <0.2 ppm is recommended with other HPLC instruments’ different detectors, i.e., HPLC with fluorescence detector.…”

Pharmacognostic, physicochemical and chromatographic characterization of Samasharkara Churna

“…The excitation wavelength and the emission wavelength for fluorescent detection were set at 362 nm and 455 nm respectively. The calibration standards were procured from Sigma Aldrich [27] .…”

Mycotoxin Contamination of Beverages Obtained from Tropical Crops

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