State of the art in the analyisis of Fusarium toxins by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)

A simultaneous and multiple determination method for the major five Fusarium toxins (deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, T- 2 toxin, HT- 2 toxin, and zearalenone) contaminating wheat and barley was developed with liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and a harmonized collaborative validation of the method was conducted by the participants of 12 laboratories. Although there are many reports on the simultaneous and multiple determination of Fusarium toxins by instrumental analysis, only a few of them are developed to the harmonized collaborative validation. The variance in the extraction efficiency and the matrix effects on the ionization were occasionally innegli gible with the mycotoxin analysis by LC-MS/MS, however, the employment of internal standards with the present method apparently contributed to compensate for these effects. This is the first report of a simultaneous and multiple determination method for both type A and B trichothecenes along with ZEA by LC-MS/MS that was validated through the harmonized collaborative validation. On the other hand, the accurate mass and high-resolution measurement was carried out with LC-MS (LC-Orbitrap MS) for the screening of new masked mycotoxins. Consequently, mono-glucoside derivatives of type B trichothecenes (nivalenol and fusarenon-X) in wheat grains and those of type A trichothecenes (T- 2 toxin, HT- 2 toxin, neosolaniol, diacetoxyscirpenol, and monoacetoxyscirpenol) in corn powder sample were detected, respectively. Di-glucoside derivatives were also found for T- 2 toxin and HT- 2 toxin. Our findings indicate that the presence of masked mycotoxins is not limited to some specific mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol and zearalenone, but likely with the other Fusarium toxins.