Developments in mycotoxin analysis: an update for 2017-2018

Abstract

This review summarises developments that have been published in the period from mid-2017 to mid-2018 on the analysis of various matrices for mycotoxins. Analytical methods to determine aflatoxins, Alternaria toxins, ergot alkaloids, fumonisins, ochratoxins, patulin, trichothecenes, and zearalenone are covered in individual sections. Advances in sampling strategies are discussed in a dedicated section, as are methods used to analyse botanicals and spices, and newly developed comprehensive liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric based multi-mycotoxin methods. This critical review aims to briefly discuss the most important recent developments and trends in mycotoxin determination as well as to address limitations of the presented methodologies.

Occurrence and analysis of mycotoxins in domestic Chinese herbal medicines

“…In this review, we summarised some common mycotoxin contaminants found in medicinal materials and discussed methods for their detection. Mycotoxin contamination is usually heterogeneous, so screening methods for detecting these contaminants in medicinal products need to have broad coverage across, and samples should be processed carefully (Zhang et al 2018a ; Tittlemier et al 2019 ). However, many existing studies of mycotoxin contamination lack detailed descriptions of how samples are selected and processed.…”

Evaluation of Two Fully Automated Setups for Mycotoxin Analysis Based on Online Extraction-Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

“…In this context, downsizing the sample preparation represents a promising way to be in accordance with green chemistry principles, as it is related to reduced consumption of chemicals/samples, and a reduced generation of toxic waste. Additionally, applying automation concepts helps to overcome the problems frequently related to the offline conventional sample preparation approaches, such as laborious and time-consuming procedures, the manual handling of samples, and in some cases, poor accuracy or precision [17]. Recent trends for mycotoxin analysis seem to prioritize the miniaturization and automation of the sample preparation approach, allowing them to obtain high-throughput analytical methods [20].…”

“…Nowadays, this is one of the most critical techniques that provides much information, allowing for the simultaneous detection of multi-present mycotoxins and emerging mycotoxins or masked metabolites [ 5 ]. However, before the instrumental analysis of mycotoxins can be carried out successfully, a previous sample preparation step is usually mandatory [ 17 ]. For this reason, mycotoxins are extracted from the food matrix and added to a more appropriate media or solvent [ 18 ].…”

“…After that, the extract is subjected to a cleaning step, usually employing liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) or solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridges, preferably packaged with an immunoaffinity sorbent, which are known as immunoaffinity columns (IACs). IACs have been one of the most relevant achievements and the preferred method for mycotoxin analysis, being a highly selective sorbent due to the use of antibodies bound to a support material [ 17 , 19 ]. Among the advantages of the IAC employment in mycotoxin analysis are the attainment of clean extracts and low detection limits (0.1–0.2 ng g −1 ), selectivity, smooth operation, and less organic solvent consumption.…”

“…Therefore, novel methods to analyze mycotoxins have emerged, focusing on the automation and miniaturization of the sample preparation procedure towards the development of greener approaches [ 20 ]. In this case, techniques such as online SPE [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ] in-tube SPME (solid-phase microextraction) [ 26 ], turbulent flow chromatography (TFC) [ 17 , 27 , 28 ], and customized procedures derived from them [ 17 , 29 , 30 , 31 ], arose as suitable tools to perform such analyses while benefits emerging from automation/miniaturization could be reached. In this context, downsizing the sample preparation represents a promising way to be in accordance with green chemistry principles, as it is related to reduced consumption of chemicals/samples, and a reduced generation of toxic waste.…”