Using Magnetic Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes as Modified QuEChERS Adsorbent for Simultaneous Determination of Multiple Mycotoxins in Grains by UPLC-MS/MS

Abstract

The simultaneous detection of multiple mycotoxins is important due to the increased toxic effects of combined mycotoxins in grains. In this research, a combination of modified QuEChERS with ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was used for simultaneous detection of 20 mycotoxins in grains. A series of different types of magnetic (Fe3O4) nanoparticles modified with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (Fe3O4-MWCNTs) were designed as modified QuEChERS adsorbents for facile and efficient purification and for target interferences removal in the matrices. When there is an external magnetic field, the proposed modified QuEChERS method uses a shorter pretreatment time compared with the traditional QuEChERS method, which makes it possible to conduct high-throughput analyses. To optimize the QuEChERS process, the extraction solvent and the type and amount of the Fe3O4-MWCNTs were investigated. Under optimal conditions, the method was validated and showed satisfactory linearity (r 2 ≥ 0.9965), good recovery (73.5–112.9%), good precision (1.3–12.7%), and excellent sensitivity (ranging from 0.0021 to 5.4457 ng g–1), which indicates that this method can be used for detecting multiple mycotoxins in real samples.

Recent Applications of Magnetic Nanoparticles in Food Analysis

“…All of them present good chemical and thermal stability, as well as mechanical strength, variable electrical conductivity, larger specific surface area and a great capacity to establish π-π interactions [5,6,17]. For these reasons the combination of the advantages brought by these materials with those associated with m-NPs, constitutes a good strategy widely used in sample preparation in the area of food analysis as can be seen in Table 1, in which some of the most recently applications in this field have been compiled [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27].…”

“…Most of the works reported are focused on the combination of iron oxide NPs together with CNTs and their different versions and functionalised forms [19,[21][22][23]28], as well as graphene and modified graphene [20,24,27]. However, graphitized carbon black (GCB) has also been applied [26], along with ternary composites using NDs [18], and other non-carbonaceous nanomaterials.…”

“…However, graphitized carbon black (GCB) has also been applied [26], along with ternary composites using NDs [18], and other non-carbonaceous nanomaterials. They have been used for the analysis of organic compounds in milk [18,19,26,27], fruit [18,29], oil [24], meat [18] or cereal based products [20,22], among others such as beverages, eggs, cacao, honey and coffee.…”

“…Although in most cases these sorbents are used as extraction materials, their application as clean-up sorbents has also been carried out showing a clear reduction of the matrix effect. As an example, Ma et al [22] used a combination of Fe 3 O 4 and multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs) for the clean-up step of the QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, safe) renowned method applied for the extraction of 20 mycotoxins from rice, millet, wheat, corn and coix seed prior to determination by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). Apart from reducing the pre-treatment time as a consequence of using a magnetic sorbent easily removed by an external magnet, the whole methodology showed very good sensitivity with limits of detection (LODs) in the range 0.0006-1.6337 µg/kg and an extraction efficiency similar or even better than for other sorbents commonly used in this technique such as octadecylsilane (C 18 ), primary-secondary amine (PSA) and GCB, with recovery values between 70% and 113%.…”

Simultaneous quantification of three tropane alkaloids in goji berries by cleanup of the graphene/hexagonal boron nitride hybrids and ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

“…In order to improve the QuECh-ERS method, a variety of effective adsorbents mustbe imperatively developed. It was reported that modified graphene adsorbents, functionalized carbon nanotubes, and magnetic adsorbents were used in the QuEChERS method [27,28]. Furthermore, some companies (Agilent, United Chemical) introduced commercialized novel materials for interference removal from food, environment, and Chinese medicine [29].…”