Application of hybrid linear ion trap-high resolution mass spectrometry to the analysis of mycotoxins in beer

Abstract

This paper reports the application of liquid chromatography electrospray ionization ion trap–orbitrap mass spectrometry for the determination of 18 mycotoxins (aflatoxins, fumonisins, trichothecenes, ochratoxin A, sterogmatocystin, beauvaricin, zearalenone and zearalenol) in beer. The extraction procedure was carried out by solid phase extraction (SPE): SPE columns were conditioned with acetonitrile/methanol and water. Beer was loaded onto the column which was washed with water. In these conditions, the recoveries were more than 65% and the relative standard deviation (RSD) were below 18%. The lowest limits of quantification (LLOQ) ranged from 9 to 155 ng ml⁻¹. Matrix-matched calibration was performed for each beer and reliable results were obtained from selected mycotoxins. The method was applied to the analysis of 25 commercial beers. Taking advantage of the hybrid capabilities, the presence of other mycotoxins were checked; enniatins (A, A₁, B and B₁) and fusaproliferin were studied in all the tested samples. The survey detected the presence of zearalenone in one stout beer sample.

Keywords:

• LC/MS
• mycotoxins
• beer

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (AGL2010-17024/ALI). CS thanks to Universitat de Valencia for a “short-term visit” grant.