Development of a Sensitive UPLC-MS/MS Method for the Simultaneous Quantification of Mycotoxins in Wheat Products and...

Mycotoxin contamination in wheat products has consistently been a key issue of concern in food safety, and urinary biomonitoring provides an effective approach for assessing internal human exposure. In this study, a sensitive ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of 28 mycotoxins in wheat products and human urine. For the two matrices, the extraction solvent, acid concentration, solid-phase extraction cartridge type, and enzymatic hydrolysis parameters were optimized. Under the optimized conditions, all target compounds showed excellent linear relationships within the tested concentration ranges (R² > 0.99). In wheat products, the spiked recoveries ranged from 70.2% to 120%, the repeatabilities ranged from 1.6% to 9.1%, and the limits of detection and limits of quantification were 0.001~8.3 μg/kg and 0.002~25.0 μg/kg, respectively. In urine, the spiked recoveries ranged from 79.3% to 120%, the repeatabilities ranged from 0.7% to 9.4%, and the limits of detection and limits of quantification were 0.0001~1.0 μg/L and 0.0002~3.0 μg/L, respectively. Analysis of real samples showed that at least seven mycotoxins were detected in wheat product samples, and at least five were detected in urine samples. In wheat products, the detection rates of deoxynivalenol, enniatin B, enniatin A₁, enniatin B₁, tenuazonic acid, and tentoxin were all 100%, whereas in urine, the detection rate of fumonisin B₁ reached 100%, and tenuazonic acid showed the highest mean concentration in both matrices. In conclusion, the developed ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method is suitable for the simultaneous quantification of 28 mycotoxins in wheat products and human urine, and its preliminary application demonstrates good practical applicability.