Eco-friendly and sensitive analytical method for determination of T-2 toxin and HT-2 toxin in cereal products using UPLC-MS/MS

• Published in: Journal of food composition and analysis Vol. 107; p. 104395
• Main Authors: Gab-Allah, Mohamed A., Tahoun, Ibrahim F., Yamani, Randa N., Rend, Eman A., Shehata, Adel B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.04.2022
• Subjects: Cereal-based products; Green analysis; HT-2 toxin; T-2 toxin; UPLC-MS/MS; Validation; Green analysis; Validation; Cereal-based products; T-2 toxin; HT-2 toxin; UPLC-MS/MS
• ISSN: 0889-1575; 1096-0481
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jfca.2022.104395

•An alternative green and sensitive UPLC-MS/MS method is established and validated for T2 and HT2.•Good accuracy, precision, selectivity, and sensitivity were accomplished.•The greenness profile of the method was evaluated using NEMI, GAPI, and Eco-Scale tools.•The greenness of the proposed method was confirmed over conventionally developed methods.•Method feasibility was proved via the analysis of real cereal product samples. The ecological effects of chemical and analytical research have raised major concerns worldwide. Therefore, adopting green analytical methods has dramatically become an essential objective of the analytical community in the past few years. This work demonstrates a new green, sensitive, and reliable ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS/MS) method for simultaneous determination of T-2 toxin (T2) and HT-2 toxin (HT2) in corn and oat flours. Less hazardous eco-friendly solvents were adopted for the sample preparation process and chromatographic analysis of these toxins. The method was validated in the concentration range of 5–200 μg/kg according to Commission Regulation No 2002/657/EC to evaluate its performance characteristics. Good linearity (R2 > 0.996) was obtained for both mycotoxins, with very low limits of detection (0.02–0.08 μg/kg) and limit of quantification (0.08–0.26 μg/kg) values. The method yielded mean recoveries of T2 and HT2 in fortified samples in the range of 78.6–98.6 %. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for intraday and interday precisions were below 5 % and 7 %, respectively. Furthermore, excellent method selectivity was achieved since no matrix interference peaks were demonstrated over the entire chromatographic run. The method greenness was also evaluated using three state-of-the-art metrics, and the greenness profile was compared with those of other reported methods. The method is considered a greener alternative to conventional chromatographic methods in terms of usage of safer chemicals, generation of lower waste amount, and providing shorter analysis time. Ultimately, this robust method was successfully applied to the determination of T2 and HT2 in several corn and oat samples.