The JRC in its role as European Union Reference Laboratory (EURL) for Mycotoxins developed quick method of analysis for multiple mycotoxins. This work aims to facilitate compliance testing in the EU Member States and to support the EU National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) on mycotoxins.
The maximum allowed amounts of mycotoxins (food contaminants being secondary metabolites of certain fungi and having a harmful effect on human health) are regulated for many food products worldwide. There is a need for fit-for-the-purpose analytical methods which are able to determine multiple mycotoxins at once. At the same time, it is desirable to reduce the amount and the hazard of the chemical waste which is an unavoidable part of chemical analysis. Liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is the method of choice for monitoring the presence and quantity of mycotoxins in food products.
It is the role of the EURL for Mycotoxins to develop and validate state-of-the-art and fit-for-the-purpose analytical approaches for official food control. Therefore, the JRC developed a "greener" and quick method of analysis for four mycotoxins (DON, HT-2, T-2 and ZON) in cereals. The fitness-for-purpose was proven through a successful collaborative study. This method of analysis became recently a European Standard (CEN EN 16877).
The comprehensiveness and flexibility of the developed extraction approach was also used for a very quick screening and semi-quantitative flow-injection mass spectrometry assay for aflatoxin B1 in whole-kernel maize.
Read more in: A. Breidbach "A greener, quick and comprehensive extraction approach for LC-MS of multiple mycotoxins", Toxins 91 (2017) 1-14, doi:10.3390/toxins9030091
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A greener, quick and comprehensive extraction approach for LC-MS of multiple mycotoxins
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- Publication date
- 5 April 2017