Simultaneous determination of 19 mycotoxins in lotus seed using a multimycotoxin UFLC-MS/MS method

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Toxicology

Background:

• Lotus seeds are prone to fungal contamination and mycotoxin residue due to internal factors and environmental conditions.
• Mycotoxins pose significant risks to the quality, safety, pharmaceutical efficacy, and clinical use of lotus seeds.
• Accurate assessment of mycotoxin residues in lotus seeds is urgently needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a sensitive and accurate method for assessing multimycotoxin residues in lotus seeds.
• To determine the incidence and prevalence of 19 specific mycotoxins in lotus seed samples.

Main Methods:

• A modified ultrasonication-assisted extraction and QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe) purification method was developed.
• Ultrafast liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UFLC-MS/MS) was employed for ultrasensitive determination of 19 multiclass mycotoxins.
• Method validation included optimization of extraction, purification, linearity, precision, accuracy, and matrix effect assessment.

Main Results:

• The validated UFLC-MS/MS method demonstrated excellent sensitivity, selectivity, precision, and accuracy for mycotoxin detection.
• Significant matrix effects were observed for certain mycotoxins, necessitating matrix-matched calibration.
• Out of 45 lotus seed samples analyzed, 57.8% were contaminated with one or more mycotoxins, with ochratoxin A, aflatoxin B2, aflatoxin B1, and citrinin being the most frequent.

Conclusions:

• This study presents the first report on the incidence of 19 mycotoxins in lotus seeds.
• The developed UFLC-MS/MS method is highly effective for the ultrasensitive determination of multiple mycotoxins in lotus seeds.
• The proposed method has potential for broad application in analyzing trace components in other complex matrices.