Multimycotoxin UPLC-MS/MS for tea, herbal infusions and the derived drinkable products

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Toxicology

Background:

• Tea and herbal infusions are popular beverages with increasing consumption.
• Processing and manufacturing can lead to fungal contamination and mycotoxin presence in these products.
• Mycotoxins pose potential health risks, necessitating accurate detection methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a multimycotoxin ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method.
• To analyze raw tea/herbal infusion materials and their final drinkable products for mycotoxin contamination.
• To assess the safety of commercially available tea and herbal infusion products regarding mycotoxins.

Main Methods:

• Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was employed for analysis.
• A mobile phase of water and methanol with formic acid was utilized.
• Method validation included determining limits of detection for various mycotoxins.

Main Results:

• The developed UPLC-MS/MS method demonstrated sensitive detection limits for mycotoxins.
• Out of 91 analyzed samples, only one raw tea sample (Ceylon melange) contained 76 μg/kg of fumonisin B(1).
• No mycotoxins were detected in any of the analyzed drinkable (brewed) tea or herbal infusion products.

Conclusions:

• The validated UPLC-MS/MS method is effective for detecting mycotoxins in tea and herbal infusions.
• The risk of mycotoxin contamination in the final consumed beverages appears low based on this study.
• Continued monitoring is advisable to ensure consumer safety in the growing market of teas and herbal infusions.