Comparison of QuEChERS and “dilute and shoot” extraction methods for multi-mycotoxin analysis of samples from button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) cultivation

Abstract

Several components of mushroom compost (wheat straw, chicken manure) can be contaminated with mycotoxins posing food health risks to mushroom consumers. To assess the relevance of such contaminations high-throughput analytical methods are needed. In this study, two sample preparation approaches, dilute & shoot (D&S) and modified citrate buffered Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, Safe (QuEChERS) were compared in terms of extraction efficiency and matrix effect in case of 13 mycotoxins in complex matrices–wheat straw, the growing media and button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus)–of mushroom cultivation using high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). D&S method resulted in recoveries of LB medium, button mushroom and compost for ≥60% in case of all investigated mycotoxins except for DON-3G. However, using modified citrate buffered QuEChERS with 2% acidification of the extraction solvent showed the complete loss of strongly polar DON-3G and fumonisin B₁ (FB₁). The investigated matrices had suppressive effect on ionization in all target mycotoxins except for FB₁. Regarding the use of isotopologues to compensate matrix effect, even U-[¹³C₁₅]-DON and U-[¹³C₂₄]-T-2 can also be used to quantify their related metabolites in the studied matrices, using internal standard method.

Keywords:

• Matrix effect
• mushroom production
• liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry
• mycotoxins
• isotopologue mycotoxins

Declaration of interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by National Competitiveness and Excellence Programme (no. NVKP_16-1-2016-0035), European Union and co-financed by the European Social Fund (grant agreement no. EFOP3.6.3-VEKOP-16-2017-00005), European Structural and Investment Funds (grant agreement no. VEKOP-2.3.3-15-2017-00022) projects and Food Science Doctorial School of SZIU, Hungary. We also greatly acknowledge Keith Howard for English language editing our manuscript.