Analysis of wines, grape juices and cranberry juices forAlternaria toxins

Sixty six samples of red and white wine from Ontario (VQA), British Columbia (VQA), Québec ("vins artisanaux"), imported wines (from Italy, South America and USA) and Canadian and US grape and cranberry juices were analysed for theAlternaria mycotoxins alternariol (AOH) and alternariol monomethyl ether (AME). After cleanup on aminopropyl SPE columns, AOH and AME were initially determined by reversed phase LC with UV detection. Positive sample extracts were re-analysed by LC-tandem negative ion electrospray mass spectrometry (MS/MS) in multiple reaction mode. Overall mean method recoveries measured by LC-UV were 93% for AOH and 81% for AME. Limits of detection in wine (and juice) by LC-UV for AOH were 0.8 (0.4) ng/ml and for AME were 0.5 (0.4) ng/ml; they were below 0.01 ng/ml by LC-MS/MS. As determined by LC-MS/MS, AOH was found in 13/17 Canadian red wines at levels of 0.03 to 5.02 ng/ml and in 7/7 imported red wines at 0.27-19.4 ng/ml, usually accompanied by lower concentrations of AME. Red grape juices (5 positive/10 samples) contained only sub ng/ml levels of AOH or AME except for one sample (39 ng AME/ml). White wines (3/23 samples), white grape juices (0/4 samples) and cranberry juices (1/5 samples) contained little AOH/AME (≤1.5 ng/ml).