DETERMINATION OF MYCOTOXINS IN PLANT-BASED BEVERAGES USING QUECHERS AND LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY-TANDEM MASS SPECTROMETRY

A method was developed for the simultaneous determination of 11 mycotoxins in plant-based beverage matrices, using a QuEChERS extraction followed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry detection (UHPLC-(ESI)MS/MS). This multi-mycotoxin method was applied to analyse plant-based beverages such as soy, oat and rice. QuEChERS extraction was applied obtaining suitable extraction recoveries between 80 and 91%, and good repeatability and reproducibility values. Instrumental Limits of Quantification were between 3 ng L-1 (for AFG1, AFB2 and AFB1) and 0.9 ¿g L-1 (for HT-2). This is the first time that plant-based beverages have been analysed, and certain mycotoxins, such as deoxynivalenol, aflatoxin B1, aflatoxin B2, aflatoxin G1, aflatoxin G2, ochratoxin A, T-2 toxin and zearalenone, were found in the analysed samples, and some of them quantified between 0.1 ¿g L-1 and 19 ¿g L-1