Simultaneous detection of zearalenone, citrinin, and ochratoxin A in pepper by capillary zone electrophoresis

ABSTRACT

In the present study, a simple and fast method for simultaneous detection of zearalenone, citrinin, and ochratoxin A utilising capillary zone electrophoresis with an ultraviolet detector was developed. The optimised approach was validated and applied using pepper samples. The proposed method yielded satisfactory linearity between the signal and the mycotoxin concentration in the range of 1.5–150 μg/kg for zearalenone, 4.5–150 μg/kg for citrinin, and 0.8–150 μg/kg for ochratoxin A. The limits of detection for these mycotoxins ranged from 0.3 to 1.5 μg/kg. The corresponding intra- and inter-day precisions were less than 3.5 % and 4.1 %, respectively. Moreover, the matrix effect was also assessed and the result was compared using the capillary zone electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography methods. The developed approach could be used for simultaneous detection of zearalenone, citrinin, and ochratoxin A in pepper.

KEYWORDS:

• Capillary zone electrophoresis
• mycotoxins
• food safety
• pepper samples

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Science and Technology Department of Zhejiang Province (no. 2017C37015) and Zhejiang Province Key Project for Science and Technology grant (no. 2016C02056-2) for financial support of this work.

Disclosure statement

The authors have declared no conflict of interest

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Zhejiang Province Key Project for Science and Technology grant [2016C02056-2]; the Science and Technology Department of Zhejiang Province [2017C37015].