Abstract
A straightforward analytical method was developed and validated to determine the mycotoxin moniliformin in cereal-based foods. Moniliformin is extracted with water and quantified with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, and its presence confirmed with liquid chromatography-Orbitrap-high-resolution mass spectrometry. The method was validated for flour, bread, pasta and maize samples in terms of linearity, matrix effect, recovery, repeatability and limit of quantification. Quantification was conducted by matrix-matched calibration. Positive samples were confirmed by standard addition. Recovery ranged from 77 to 114% and repeatability from 1 to 14%. The limit of quantification, defined as the lowest concentration tested at which the validation criteria of recovery and repeatability were fulfilled, was 10 μg/kg. The method was applied to 102 cereal-based food samples collected in the Netherlands and Germany. Moniliformin was not detected in bread samples. One of 22 flour samples contained moniliformin at 10.6 μg/kg. Moniliformin occurred in seven out of 25 pasta samples at levels around 10 μg/kg. Moniliformin (MON) was present in eight out of 23 maize products at levels ranging from 12 to 207 μg/kg.
Highlights
Moniliformin (MON) is a frequently worldwide occurring mycotoxin in cereals and is produced by many Fusarium species (Uhlig et al 2004), including Fusarium avenaceum, Fusarium proliferatum, Fusarium subglutinans, Fusarium tricinctum and Fusarium verticillioides
Peltonen et al (2010) applied a No Observed Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) of 10 mg/kg bw/day based on subchronic 28-day animal experiments to deduce a provisional tolerable daily intake of 0.1 mg/kg bw/ day
Its separation from potential interfering matrix co-extractants is crucial for an accurate quantitative analysis
Summary
Moniliformin (MON) is a frequently worldwide occurring mycotoxin in cereals and is produced by many Fusarium species (Uhlig et al 2004), including Fusarium avenaceum, Fusarium proliferatum, Fusarium subglutinans, Fusarium tricinctum and Fusarium verticillioides. Because of the low pKa (0.5–1.7) of the free acid, it does not occur as acid in nature but as water-soluble sodium or potassium salt (Fig. 1). It was first discovered in 1973 by Cole et al (1973) and characterized in 1974 by Springer et al (1974). The toxicity of MON has been studied in in vitro and in vivo conditions. MON has an acute toxicity comparable to T-2 toxin in ducklings and chickens with LD50 varying from 3.7 to 5.4 mg/ kg body weight (Jestoi 2008). There is no legislation on MON in the EU, but the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is currently assessing its risks to public health
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