Preparation of cyclodextrin functionalized magnetic microporous organic network for efficient application in magnetic...

Mycotoxin contamination in medicinal and edible plants threatens food safety and public health, and developing effective adsorbents for their enrichment and detection is essential. A novel magnetic cyclodextrin-functionalised microporous organic network (MON), TEPA-Fe₃O₄@α-CD-MON, was synthesized via an in situ growth strategy. The adsorbent efficiently enriched trace levels of aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁), aflatoxin B₂ (AFB₂), zearalenone (ZEN) and ochratoxin A (OTA), simultaneously. Experimental results combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirmed that the adsorbent exhibited excellent extraction performance and high adsorption capacity (e.g., AFB₂: 79.9 mg/g-the highest among reported adsorbents) through π-π interactions, hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces. At optimized conditions, the established TEPA-Fe₃O₄@α-CD-MON-MSPE-HPLC-DAD method was successfully applied to 20 medicinal and edible plants, demonstrating a wide linearity range (25-5000 μg/L), good precision (RSD < 8.76%) and high stability. The method proves simple, efficient, and highly promising for monitoring trace mycotoxins in the complex matrices.