Simultaneous quantification of ergot and tropane alkaloids in bread in the Netherlands by LC-MS/MS

ABSTRACT

Atropine and scopolamine are tropane alkaloids (TAs), which are regulated for cereal-based foods for children in the EU. For ergot alkaloids (EAs) in cereals and cereal-based food harmonised legislation is not yet established. A fast and straightforward method, which employs extraction by acidified water/methanol followed by ultra-filtration prior to analysis by LC-MS/MS, was validated in bread for 20 EAs and six TAs. LOQs for individual alkaloids ranged from 0.3 to 1.2 µg kg⁻¹, while recoveries ranged from 65% to 94% and repeatability from 3.4% to 17%. A survey was conducted in the Netherlands on 40 retail samples of bread (wheat, rye, wheat-rye, multi-grain) collected in 2014 and 2018. TAs, including atropine and scopolamine, were not detected. Eighteen different EAs were detected and total levels varied between <LOQ and 335 µg kg⁻¹. Since EAs were detected in a wide concentration range, it is recommended to monitor their occurrence in bread more regularly.

KEYWORDS:

• Ergot alkaloids
• tropane alkaloids
• bread
• quantification
• LC-MS/MS
• survey

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the European Commission (DG SANTE, Grant No SI2.785242) and Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (WOT-02-001-061).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Commission (DG SANTE, Grant No SI2.785242) and Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (WOT-02-001-061).