simple and reliable liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of aflatoxin B1 in feed

• Published in: Food additives & contaminants. Part A, Chemistry, analysis, control, exposure & risk assessment Vol. 31; no. 10; pp. 1736 - 1743
• Main Authors: Biancardi, A, Dall’Asta, C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis 2014
• Subjects: aflatoxin B1; Aflatoxin B1 - analysis; Aflatoxin B1 - chemistry; Analytic Sample Preparation Methods; Animal Feed - analysis; Animal Feed - standards; Biological and medical sciences; Calibration; Carcinogens, Environmental - analysis; Carcinogens, Environmental - chemistry; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; confidence interval; cows; dairy animals; Edible Grain - chemistry; European Union; feeding stuffs; Food Contamination; Food industries; Food Inspection - methods; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; immunoaffinity chromatography; in-house validation; Italy; Limit of Detection; mass spectrometry; Molecular Structure; mycotoxins; Reproducibility of Results; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Italy; Validation; feeding stuffs; mycotoxins; cows; Dairy cattle; Mycotoxin; Ox; Liquid chromatography; Cow; Method; Feeding; Toxin; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Mass spectrometry MS/MS; Aflatoxin B1; Artiodactyla; Mass spectrometry; Ungulata; in-house validation; mass spectrometry
• ISSN: 1944-0057; 1944-0049; 1944-0057
• DOI: 10.1080/19440049.2014.955535

A chromatographic method is proposed for the analysis of aflatoxin B ₁ in cereal-based feed, particularly targeted to dairy animals. The method is based on a solid–liquid extraction followed by a Mycosep 226 clean-up. Accuracy and precision were established at the LOQ (1 µg kg ⁻¹) with a spiked sample as well as with two other different naturally contaminated reference materials. The mean overall recovery (n = 18) was 100.8%, with a confidence interval of 2.7% and a CV% of 5.5%. The performance of the proposed method was compared with the AOAC method based on the use of immunoaffinity chromatography columns, proving that it could be considered a valid alternative. Moreover, the sample preparation is very simple and straightforward, potentially being applicable as a high-throughput method. On account of its simplicity and low cost, the method may be applied to the analysis of a large number of samples in the occasion of outbreaks of large-scale contamination.