Sensitive assessment of multi-class mycotoxins residue in Atractylodis rhizoma

Considering multiple mycotoxins residues and serious worldwide health threaten to human, a sensitive and reliable ultra-fast liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid triple quadrupole/linear-ion (Tap tandem mass spectrometry (UFLC-QqQ(LIT)-MS/MS) method was developed for simultaneous assessment of 7 frequently-considered multi-class mycotoxins including aflatoxins B-1, B-2, G(5), G(2), and ochratoxin A, fumonisins B-1 and B-2 in Atractylodis rhizoma. These mycotoxins were extracted using a simple and cost-efficient QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe)-based extraction procedure without any clean-up step. Extraction, UFLC chromatographic and MS/MS detection conditions were optimized to increase sample throughput and sensitivity. Multiple-reaction monitoring mode and matrix-matched curves were established for accurate quantification. The optimized method exhibited excellent selectivity (no interferences at the retention time of each mycotoxin), linearity (r > 0.997) within wide ranges, sensitivity (limits of detection and quantitation of 0.025-0.25 mu g/kg and 0.1-0.5 mu g/kg, respectively), precision (RSD < 1.62% and < 1.34% for intra- and inter-day variations), accuracy (average recovery of 75.6%-108.8%), and reproducibility (RSD < 6.78%) for the 7 mycotoxins within 7.5 min. Twenty-two batches of Atractylodis rhizoma collected from different origins in China were analyzed and 4 (about 18.2%) samples were contaminated with some of the mycotoxins at trace levels. This is the first report on the combined QuEChERS extraction and UFLC-QqQ(LIT)-MS/MS detection method for simple, fast and sensitive determination of multi-class mycotoxins in Atractylodis rhizoma. In practice, more attention should be paid to the safety and quality of Atractylodis rhizoma.