Study of co-occurrence of mycotoxins in cocoa beans in Brazil by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)

Abstract

In this study, 135 samples of cocoa beans collected in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest regions of Brazil were analysed to evaluate the possible co-occurrence of 34 mycotoxins. The results indicate that 42% of the cocoa samples exhibited quantifiable levels for 11 mycotoxins: aflatoxins (AFs) B₁, B₂ and G₁; ochratoxin A; citrinin; cyclopiazonic acid; tenuazonic acid; paxilline; sterigmatocystin; zearalenone and fumonisin B₂. Of the samples, 18% exhibited the co-occurrence of up to six mycotoxins. No toxins belonging to the groups of trichothecenes or ergot alkaloids were detected. Contingency analysis of the incidence of mycotoxins did not show significant differences between the two regions evaluated. Seven samples were contaminated with AFs, while only one contained ochratoxin A above 10 μg kg⁻¹. The accuracy of the method was evaluated by proficiency testing for ochratoxin A, where satisfactory Z-scores were obtained.

Keywords:

• Multi-mycotoxin
• monitoring
• occurrence
• mass spectrometry
• LC-MS/MS

Acknowledgements

The authors also thank the Laboratório de Controle de Qualidade e Segurança Alimentar (LACQSA-BH), Laboratório Nacional Agropecuário de Minas Gerais (LANAGRO-MG) and Laboratório de Analítica e Eletroanalítica da Universidade Federal de Lavras (LAE-UFLA) by the assignment of the facilities and equipment for the accomplishment of this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was carried out with the financial support from the Brazilian agencies FAPEMIG, CNPq and CAPES (Finance Code 001).

This work was funded by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais.