The development of LC-MS/MS method of determination of cyclopiazonic acid in dry-fermented meat products

Cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) is a mycotoxin produced by several moulds of the Aspergillus and the Penicillium genus. Insofar, CPA has been detected in various foods of plant origin, such as peanut, corn, figs, rice, wheat and tomato, but also in food of animal origin, such as cheese, milk and ham. CPA levels in different types of dried meat products are generally unexplored, analytical methods suitable for CPA detection thereby being limited. In view of the above, the objectives of this study were to develop a sensitive analytical method of CPA detection in dry fermented meat products, and to employ this method in the analysis of traditional dry-fermented sausages. The developed analytical method had the LOD (Limit of Detection) of 2.17 mu g/kg and the LOQ (Limit of Quantification) of 7.15 mu g/kg. The recoveries ranged from 95.49% to 102.05% with the linearity of R2 = 0.996, while the matrix effect in terms of ion enhancement was almost negligible (1.01%). The analyses of 47 traditional dry fermented sausages revealed CPA presence in 7 samples, in the concentration ranging from 2.55 mu g/kg to 59.80 mu g/kg. The presented method can be further used for the analysis of other types of dry-fermented meat products, especially those longer ripen, on which a mould growth can be substantial.