A generic procedure, which involved accelerated solvent extraction and homemade cleanup cartridges, has been developed for the extraction and purification of 35 mycotoxins in various traditional
Chinese medicine (TCM) matrixes, i.e., rhizomes and roots, seeds, flowers, and grasses and leaves, for subsequent analysis by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography鈥搕andem mass spectrometry (UHPLC鈥揗S/MS). All target analytes could be simultaneously quantitated in less than 17 min per run, showing narrow symmetrical peaks. The developed method was also successfully applied in routine monitoring programs, which implied a significant reduction of both effort and time, to investigate the contamination of TCMs. Among 60 commercial TCMs analyzed, 50 were positive. The a
chieved data underpin the practical application of the UHPLC鈥揗S/MS method as a valuable tool for the trace analysis of multiple mycotoxins in TCMs.
Keywords:
mycotoxins; traditional Chinese medicine; UHPLC鈭扢S/MS; accelerated solvent extraction; homemade cleanup cartridges