Simultaneous Determination of Ergot Alkaloids in Swine and Dairy Feeds Using Ultra High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

• Published in: Toxins Vol. 13; no. 10; p. 724
• Main Authors: Poapolathep, Saranya, Klangkaew, Narumol, Zhang, Zhaowei, Giorgi, Mario, Logrieco, Antonio Francesco, Poapolathep, Amnart
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 13.10.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Agricultural commodities; Alkaloids; Animal Feed - analysis; Animals; Cattle; Cereals; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid - methods; Contaminants; dairy feed; Ergot; ergot alkaloids; Ergot Alkaloids - analysis; Ergotamine; Feeds; Food contamination & poisoning; Food Contamination - analysis; High performance liquid chromatography; Hogs; Liquid chromatography; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Meat industry; Mycotoxins; Mycotoxins - analysis; Nervous system; Swine; swine feed; Tandem Mass Spectrometry - methods; UHPLC-MS/MS; Vasoconstrictors; United States > US; Netherlands; Germany; swine feed; UHPLC-MS/MS; dairy feed; ergot alkaloids
• ISSN: 2072-6651; 2072-6651
• DOI: 10.3390/toxins13100724

Ergot alkaloids (EAs) are mycotoxins mainly produced by the fungus . EAs are known to affect the nervous system and to be vasoconstrictors in humans and animals. This work presents recent advances in swine and dairy feeds regarding 11 major EAs, namely ergometrine, ergosine, ergotamine, ergocornine, ergocryptine, ergocristine, ergosinine, ergotaminine, ergocorninine, ergocryptinine, and ergocristinine. A reliable, sensitive, and accurate multiple mycotoxin method, based on extraction with a Mycosep 150 multifunctional column prior to analysis using UHPLC-MS/MS, was validated using samples of swine feed (100) and dairy feed (100) for the 11 targeted EAs. Based on the obtained validation results, this method showed good performance recovery and inter-day and intra-day precision that are in accordance with standard criteria to ensure reliable occurrence data on EA contaminants. More than 49% of the swine feed samples were contaminated with EAs, especially ergocryptine(-ine) (40%) and ergosine (-ine) and ergotamine (-ine) (37%). However, many of the 11 EAs were not detectable in any swine feed samples. In addition, there were contaminated (positive) dairy feed samples, especially for ergocryptine (-ine) (50%), ergosine (-ine) (48%), ergotamine (-ine), and ergocristine (-ine) (49%). The mycotoxin levels in the feed samples in this study almost complied with the European Union regulations.