Investigation of Twelve Significant Mycotoxin Contamination in Nut-Based Products by the LC-MS/MS Method

In this study, a total of 80 peanut butter, hazelnut butter, and chocolate samples were obtained from local markets in Ankara, Turkey. These foods were analyzed for twelve toxicological important mycotoxins, such as aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), aflatoxin B2 (AFB2), aflatoxin G1 (AFG1), and aflatoxin G2 (AFG2); fumonisin B1 (FB1) and fumonisin B2 (FB2); ochratoxin A (OTA); sterigmatocystin (STE); deoxynivalenol (DON); zearalenone (ZON); T-2 toxin (T2); and HT-2 toxin (HT2) by the LC-MS/MS multi-mycotoxin method. In addition to this analysis, the presence of total aerobic mesophilic bacteria was investigated in the samples. The samples were analyzed microbiologically using standard procedures. Finally, the minimum and maximum levels of AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, FB2, OTA, STE, DON, ZON, T2, and HT2 in the samples were found to be 0.04-27.37 µg/kg, 0.06-6.19 µg/kg, 0.14-0.40 µg/kg, 2.73-2.93 µg/kg, 0.01-37.26 µg/kg, 0.19-2.25 µg/kg, 11.81-42.09 µg/kg, 0.03-7.57 µg/kg, 1.41-2.54 µg/kg, and 6.94-7.43 µg/kg, respectively. AFG2 and FB1 were not detected in any of the samples. The most frequently detected mycotoxins in analyzed samples were OTA (78.75%) and AFB1 (75%). In addition, total aerobic mesophilic bacteria were isolated from 53.75% of samples. Some of the tested food samples contained mycotoxins above the Turkish Food Codex maximum limit.