Development and application of an efficient, accurate, and environmentally friendly liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of five Alternaria toxins in wheat

Abstract

The contamination of Alternaria toxins poses a potential risk to human health. This study developed a rapid, efficient, and environmentally friendly method for the simultaneous determination of five types of Alternaria toxins in wheat using high-precision and stable isotope liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The comparison between dilution method and solid-phase extraction method shows that the former achieves satisfactory results with a simple and convenient sample purification method. The quantitative limit range is 0.88 to 1.68 μg/kg. The recoveries are between 81.40% and 102.68%, with RSD less than 11.95%. The method was used to analyze 60 samples from the main wheat producing areas in China. The results showed that Tenuzonic acid had the highest detection rate (100%), followed by Tentoxin (95%), Alternariol (66.67%), and Alternariol monomethyl ether (53.33%). There is a certain pollution risk that needs to be taken seriously and monitoring should be strengthened.

Keywords

• Wheat
• Alternaria toxins
• Dilution method
• LC-MS/MS
• Contamination assessment