A rapid method for the determination of mycotoxins in edible vegetable oils by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

An analytical method based on a QuEChERS procedure (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe) has been developed for the determination of mycotoxins (alpha-zearalenol and zearalenone, and aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2) in edible oils. The analysis was performed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole analyser (UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS). The method was fully validated and the quantification limit is 0.5 mu g kg(-1) for aflatoxins and 1 mu g kg(-1) for alpha-zearalenol and zearalenone. Suitable recoveries were obtained at low concentration levels (0.5-25 mu g kg(-1) for aflatoxins and 1-25 mu g kg(-1) for alpha-zearalenol and zearalenone), ranging from 80 to 120%. Intra and inter-day precision values were also evaluated and relative standard deviation was lower than 20%. The expanded uncertainty, U, was also evaluated ant it was below 32% at 25 mu g kg(-1). The validated method has been applied to monitor the presence of mycotoxins in 194 samples belonging to different types of edible oils (olive oil, sunflower oil, soy oil and corn oil). Zearalenone was detected in 25% of the analysed samples at concentrations up to 25.6 mu g kg(-1), and aflatoxin G1 and G2 in 3% and 14% of the samples at a maximum concentration of 1.9 and 6.8 mu g kg(-1) respectively.