A simple method for the simultaneous determination of mushroom toxins by liquid chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry

A simple and rapid method for the determination of nine mushroom toxins, ibotenic acid, propargylglycine, choline, muscimol, muscarine, α-amanitin, β-amanitin, phalloidin, and phallacidin, in mushroom samples has been developed. Mushroom toxins were extracted with 0.5 % formic acid in methanol/water, purified with Oasis HLB cartridges, and analyzed by liquid chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The separation was performed on a pentafluorophenylpropyl column, and the mass spectrometer was operated in positive ion mode with electrospray ionization. Calibration curves were linear over the range of 0.01–1 μg/ml (R2 = 0.999). The detection limits for the toxins in mushroom samples were 0.0098–4.9 μg/g, which were low enough for the investigation of food poisoning cases. The intraday and interday recoveries for blank mushroom extracts fortified with mushroom toxins were 72.5–107 % and 75.9–108 %, and relative standard deviations were <7.9 and 8.2 %, respectively.