Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by various fungal species growing in foods and animal feeds. To minimize risk and protect consumers, mycotoxin levels in foods and/or feeds have been regulated by agencies in many countries around the world. A number of analytical methods for the determination of mycotoxins have been utilized in the past, however LC/MS/MS method has become the method of choice for quantification and confirmation of mycotoxins in various food sample matrices owing to its superior sensitivity, selectivity and capability of analyzing multiple target mycotoxins in a single run.
In this application note, a method for the analysis of 12 mycotoxins in a number of common food matrices (yellow corn, white corn, wheat, soybean, almond, oat breakfast cereal, and peanut butter) utilizing a QSight 220 LC/MS is presented. A stable isotope dilution assay (SIDA) technique is used, which has been proven to be the most effective and preferred calibration approach for mycotoxin analysis in complex sample matrices because it can not only compensate for sample matrix effects, but also minimize variations in analytical procedures.