Development of a method for the simultaneous detection of mycotoxins in corn using supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and electrospray-atmospheric pressure ionization/mass spectrometry (ES-API/MS) for extr

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of several species of fungi. The health implications o f mycotoxins are far reaching, ranging from induction of emesis in livestock to warranting classification as a known human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). There exists inherent difficulty in analyzing several mycotoxins simultaneously due to differences in chemical structure. Furthermore, demand for the development o f more sensitive analytical methods for the simultaneous detection of mycotoxins deemed a considerable risk to health is justified. This goal would be better met without the exhaustive time and expense of engaging in extensive clean-up methods, derivatization of analytes, or splitting samples for multiple analyses of individual mycotoxins, or subgroups of mycotoxins. This study investigated the applications of Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) combined with ElectrosprayAtmospheric Pressure Ionization Mass Spectrometry (ES-API/MS) for the simultaneous analysis o f aflatoxins (Bi, B2, Gi, G2), deoxynivalenol, ochratoxin A, fumonisin Bj, and zearalenone in corn. SFE parameters were optimized to obtain the best extraction recoveries for all toxins of interest, and its efficiency was compared to the recoveries obtained using conventional liquid-liquid extraction methods. Various combinations of potential reverse-phase HPLC mobile phases were tested in order to obtain the best HPLC separation conditions for all mycotoxins. The effects of