A Method for Simultaneous Determination of 20 Fusarium Toxins in Cereals by High-Resolution Liquid Chromatography-Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry with a Pentafluorophenyl Column

A high-resolution liquid chromatography-Orbitrap mass spectrometry (LC-Orbitrap MS) method was developed for simultaneous determination of 20 Fusarium toxins (nivalenol, fusarenon-X, deoxynivalenol, 3-acetyl deoxynivalenol, 15-acetyl deoxynivalenol, HT-2 toxin, T-2 toxin, neosolaniol, diacetoxyscirpenol, fumonisin B-1, fumonisin B-2, fumonisin B-3, fumonisin A(1), fumonisin A(2), fumonisin A(3), zearalenone, alpha-zearalenol, beta-zearalenol, alpha-zearalanol, and beta-zearalanol) in cereals. The separation of 20 Fusarium toxins with good peak shapes was achieved using a pentafluorophenyl column, and Orbitrap MS was able to detect accurately from cereal matrix components within +/- 0.77 ppm. The samples were prepared using a QuEChERS kit for extraction and a multifunctional cartridge for purification. The linearity, repeatability, and recovery of the method were >0.9964, 0.8%-14.7%, and 71%-106%, respectively. Using this method, an analysis of 34 commercially available cereals detected the presence of deoxynivalenol, 15-acetyl deoxynivalenol, fumonisin B-1, fumonisin B-2, fumonisin B-3, fumonisn A(1), fumonisin A(2), fumonisin A(3), and zearalenone in corn samples with high concentration and frequency. Trichothecenes was detected from wheat samples with high frequency; in particular, the concentration of deoxynivalenol was high. Conversely, alpha-zearalenol, beta-zearalenol, alpha-zearalanol, and beta-zearalanol were not detected in any of the samples.