Determination of atropine and scopolamine in spinach-based products contaminated with genus Datura by UHPLC–MS/MS

Abstract

Datura species are well known because of their high concentration of tropane alkaloids, which has led to poisoning episodes when Datura is accidentally mixed with edible crops. Therefore, the European Union has set a maximum level in cereal-based infant food products of 1 µg kg−1 for atropine and scopolamine. However, the occurrence of these compounds in other commodities has become a global concern. Spinach and derived products can be contaminated with Datura innoxia leaves. In this study, we tested frozen spinachs and spinach-based infant food products. The determination was carried out by UHPLC–MS/MS after applying the QuEChERS method as sample treatment. The LOQs were below 0.016 µg kg−1, achieving satisfactory results in terms of precision, accuracy, and matrix effects. The obtained results (ranging between 0.02 and 8.19 µg kg−1) were close to the maximum level set by the European Union for 24% of the samples tested.