Investigation of multimycotoxins by LC-MS/MS in maize semolina chips

Abstract

Chips made from maize semolina are rarely mycotoxin analysed because they are classified as low-risk foods in routine legal control plans. It is essential to foresee the health risks these snack foods may pose in the medium and long term, whose consumption frequency and quantity have increased with the changing consumer behaviours during the pandemic. The most outstanding development in mycotoxin analysis in recent years has been the use of high-pressure liquid chromatography together with mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) as a detector. For aflatoxin (AF) B1, B2, G1, G2, ochratoxin A (OTA), zearalenone (ZEN), deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisin B1 (FB1), fumonisin B2 (FB2), citrinin (CIT), HT-2 toxin, and T-2 toxin determination in our samples, the LC-MS/MS analysis method with electrospray ionisation interfaces was utilised. Aflatoxin B1 levels in 22.7% of the samples (2.01–17.49 μg·kg–1) and total aflatoxins (TAF) in 26.7% of the samples (6.71–24.67 μg·kg–1) were determined to exceed the limits defined in the Turkish Food Codex Contaminants Regulation. CIT could not be detected in any of the samples. ZEN + DON + OTA was found in 21.3% of the samples, DON + TAF + total fumonisins (FUM) in 19.3%, and TAF + ZEN + FUM in 18.7%.