An ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for simultaneous determination of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, G2, M1 and M2 in traditional Chinese medicines.
An ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method for simultaneous determination of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, G2, M1 and M2 in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) was developed. The approach was characterized in details and a special focus was placed on the recovery rates of isolation procedure in different TCM matrices, i.e. rhizomes and roots, seeds, flowers, grasses and leaves. For this purpose, [(13)C(17)]-aflatoxinB1 was employed as the internal standard and a reliable solid phase extraction-based clean-up method was developed. The observed recovery rates of the six aflatoxins ranged from 85.6% to 117.6% in different matrices. Then, the established method was successfully applied to the determination of the six aflatoxins in various TCMs. For 30 commercial samples analyzed, 16 were contaminated with aflatoxins. The mean levels (incidence) of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 in positive samples were 1.40 (68.8%), 1.27 (50.0%), 0.50 (43.8%) and 0.94 (43.8%) microg kg(-1), respectively. Interestingly, aflatoxin M1 was detected in two samples with the maximal content of 0.70 microg kg(-1). No sample was contaminated with aflatoxin M2. Meanwhile, a possible association between the contamination levels and the selected herbs was clarified in the present study.
Han
Zheng
Z
College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Zheng
Yunliang
Y
Luan
Lianjun
L
Cai
Zengxuan
Z
Ren
Yiping
Y
Wu
Yongjiang
Y
D016604:Aflatoxin B1 / Q000032:analysis; D016607:Aflatoxin M1 / Q000032:analysis; D000348:Aflatoxins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*
D000348:Aflatoxins; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; C027955:aflatoxin G1; C029754:aflatoxin G2; D016607:Aflatoxin M1; C029753:aflatoxin B2; D016604:Aflatoxin B1; C030379:aflatoxin M2