Thermospray high performance liquid chromatographic/mass spectrometric analysis of some fusarium mycotoxins

Abstract

Abstract Thermospray high performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (TSP HPLC/MS) was used to analyze five Fusarium mycotoxins in porcine plasma and urine. Four cytotoxic trichothecene mycotoxins, T‐2 toxin, HT‐2 toxin, diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS), deoxynivalenol (DON), T2 tetraol, and the fungal estrogen zearalenone (F‐2 toxin) were analyzed. The thermospray mass spectrum contained molecular weight information with few, if any, fragment signals. Detection limits ranging from 1 to 10 ng of mycotoxin injected onto the HPLC column were obtained using selected ion monitoring (SIM) HPLC/MS. Neither the plasma nor the urine matrix interfered with TSP HPLC/MS analysis of these mycotoxins and no sample derivatization was necessary for the analysis. The TSP HPLC/MS technique appears to be ideal for very sensitive analysis of mycotoxins in biological samples.