Development and Validation of QuEChERS Followed by UHPLC-ToF-MS Method for Determination of Multi-Mycotoxins in Pistachio Nuts

• Autor(a) principal: Mateus, Ana Rita Soares
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Barros, Sílvia, Pena, Angelina, Silva, Ana Sanches
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10316/105258; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26195754
• topic: mycotoxins; pistachios; Pistacia vera L.; validation; ultra-high performance liquid chromatography; time of flight mass spectrometry; EMR-lipid; z-Sep; Aflatoxins; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Food Contamination; Limit of Detection; Mass Spectrometry; Mycotoxins; Pistacia; Solid Phase Extraction

Pistachios are one of the types of tree nut fruits with the highest mycotoxin contamination, especially of aflatoxins, worldwide. This study developed a Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe (QuEChERS) method that was followed by Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography combined with Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-ToF-MS) for the determination of mycotoxins in pistachios. Different approaches to dispersive solid phase extraction as a clean-up method for high lipid matrices were evaluated. For this, classic sorbents such as C18 (octadecyl-modified silica) and PSA (primary secondary amine), and new classes of sorbents, namely EMR-Lipid (enhanced matrix removal-lipid) and Z-Sep (modified silica gel with zirconium oxide), were used. The QuEChERS method, followed by Z-Sep d-SPE clean-up, provided the best analytical performance for aflatoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2), ochratoxin A (OTA), zearalenone (ZEA), toxin T2 (T2) and toxin HT-2 (HT2) in pistachios. The method was validated in terms of linearity, sensitivity, repeatability, interday precision and recovery; it achieved good results according to criteria imposed by Commission Regulation (EC) no. 401/2006. The method was applied to real samples and the results show that pistachios that are available in Portuguese markets are safe from mycotoxins that are of concern to human health.