- Authors: N. Arroyo Manzanares, J.F. Huertas Pérez, A.M. García Campaña, L. Gámiz Gracia
- Reference: Food Control 36 (2014) 94-101
Nowadays the interest and consumption of pseudocereals is increasing due to their nutritional properties. Like cereals and oilseeds, pseudocereal seeds are susceptible to fungal growth and mycotoxin contamination; however these matrices have received little attention in literature. A sensitive, simple and rapid method for the determination of fifteen mycotoxins (aflatoxin B1, aflatoxin B2, aflatoxin G1, aflatoxin G2, ochratoxin A, fumonisin B1, fumonisin B2, nivalenol, deoxynivalenol, fusarenon-X, T-2 and HT-2 toxin, citrinin, sterigmatocystin and zearalenone) in pseudocereals (buckwheat, quinoa and amaranth) has been developed and validated by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS/MS), using a QuEChERS-based sample treatment. This study also includes cereals such as spelt and white, brown and red rice. Matrix-matched calibration curves were established and limits of quantification were below the maximum contents established by EU regulation in cereals. The precision (repeatability and intermediate precision) was lower than 12% in all cases and recoveries were between 60.0% and 103.5%, fulfilling the current legislation. Finally, the content of aflatoxin B1 found in a red rice sample was confirmed by comparison of the result obtained by using immunoaffinity columns for extraction and clean-up.
