Content of the Alternaria mycotoxin tenuazonic acid in food commodities determined by a stable isotope dilution assay

• Published in: Mycotoxin research 2012-02, Vol.28 (1), p.9-15
• Main Authors: Asam, Stefan, Lichtenegger, Martina, Liu, Yang, Rychlik, Michael
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acids; Alternaria; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Chemistry Techniques, Analytical - methods; Chemistry/Food Science; Food Analysis - methods; Fruits; Isotope Labeling - methods; Isotopes; Life Sciences; Medical Microbiology; Medicine/Public Health; Microbiology; Mycotoxins; Mycotoxins - analysis; Original Paper; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Spices; Stable isotopes; Tenuazonic Acid - analysis; Toxins; Triticum aestivum; Vitaceae
• ISSN: 0178-7888; 1867-1632
• DOI: 10.1007/s12550-011-0111-x

The Alternaria mycotoxin tenuazonic acid (TA) was quantified in fruit juices ( n  = 50), cereals ( n  = 12) and spices ( n  = 38) using a recently developed stable isotope dilution assay (SIDA). [ 13  C 6 , 15  N]-TA was used as the internal standard. Method validation revealed low limits of detection (LODs) of 0.15 μg/kg (fruit juices), 1.0 μg/kg (cereals) and 17 μg/kg (spices). The respective limits of quantitation were about three times higher. Recovery was about 100% for all matrices. The precision (relative standard deviation of replicate analyses of naturally contaminated samples) was 4.2% (grape juice; 1.7 μg/kg), 3.5% (whole wheat flour; 36 μg/kg) and 0.9% (curry powder; 215 μg/kg). The median content of TA in the analyzed samples was 1.8 μg/kg (fruit juices), 16 μg/kg (cereals) and 500 μg/kg (spices). Positive samples amounted to 86% (fruit juices), 92% (cereals) and 87% (spices).